Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I would remind the member of what the international legal obligations for countries such as Australia are under these circumstances. Under customary international law, all vessels have a duty to render assistance to a vessel in distress. This duty is reflected in article 98 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both Australia and Indonesia are parties. Article 98 obliges a state to require the master of a ship flying its flag to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue—

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