Legal Status of Sunken State Vessels and Warships under the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

The convention adopted in UNESCO on protection of underwater cultural heritage prescribed that the sunken state vessels and warships, whether regarded as cultural heritage or otherwise, shall remain under exclusive sovereignty of the flag state, unless it abandons and/or explicitly waives its rights and title to such vessels. Nonetheless, the relationship between costal and flag states shall take form on cooperation basis. Meanwhile, although excluded from the text of the convention, there are ancient set of rules and principles (e.g. the law of finds and the salvage law) which in certain conditions (consent or authorization of the competent states involved) may be applicable to marine issues, namely exploration operations and recovery of underwater cultural heritage or sunken vessels.