CMSI Translations #30: Vision for Future Next-Generation Aircraft Carrier Supply Ships

Given the substantial increase in sustainment requirements for the PLA Navy’s next-generation aircraft carriers, and acknowledging the limitations inherent in the Type 901 replenishment ship due to the technological constraints of its design era, the next-generation (新型) carrier replenishment vessel is expected to undergo significant modifications compared to its predecessor in several key areashttps://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-translations/1057/thumbnail.jp

Concurrent Regimes for the Concept of “Common Heritage” in Seabed Mining

This article examines the re-emergence of unilateral deep seabed mining by the United States and its implications for the concept of the common heritage of mankind. Triggered by Executive Order 14285 and the resurrection of the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, the U.S. approach challenges the multilateral framework established under Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1994 Implementing Agreement. While the prevailing view holds that unilateral seabed mining is prohibited by customary international law and that only the International Seabed Authority (ISA) may lawfully operationalize the common heritage principle, the United States maintains that it is not bound by UNCLOS and may pursue a parallel regime grounded in freedom of the high seas, environmental safeguards, and alternative benefit-sharing mechanisms. Against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical competition over critical minerals and supply-chain security, the article traces the historical and legal foundations of the U.S. position, including the earlier Reciprocating States Regime, and evaluates whether the DSHMRA can be reconciled with the substantive elements of the common heritage principle. It further analyzes the constraints imposed on UNCLOS States parties by doctrines of non-recognition, due diligence, and erga omnes partes obligations, while identifying limited avenues for lawful cooperation on ancillary and downstream activities. The article concludes that contemporary seabed mining reflects not a rejection of common heritage, but a contest over its meaning, institutional form, and distributive justice in a fragmented international legal order

International Law Situations: Blockade

This Situation examines the right of belligerents to establish and enforce a blockade and the right to conduct visit and search of enemy and neutral merchant ships globally outside neutral waters

Remembering Captain Joseph E. Baggett, JAGC, USN (Ret.): International Law Expert and Mentor to Generations of Naval Officers

The editors dedicate this volume to the memory of Captain Joseph E. Baggett, JAGC, USN (Ret.), June 22, 1949 – June 23, 202

CMSI Archive Translation: An Unforgettable Maritime Contest in the East China Sea: A Partial Account of the Rights Protection/Law Enforcement Operation Following an Incident Involving the Sinking of an Unidentified Foreign Vessel in the East China Sea

This article recounts a 9-month rights protection/law enforcement (维权执法) operation in China\u27s EEZ by China Marine Surveillance (CMS) in 2002, following an incident involving Japan. The operation established the position of CMS as a representative implementer of government functions. Despite significant equipment disparity, CMS successfully asserted China\u27s sovereign rights and jurisdictional rights over the area, compelling Japan to eventually submit to CMS supervision (监管) of its salvage operations. CMS achieved breakthroughs by seizing opportunities, such as collecting evidence on an oil slick or responding to a Chinese fishing vessel, to breach Japan\u27s security perimeter and conduct on-site monitoring