| This examines the nature of port state jurisdiction as practiced in the recent institution of port State control. Port State control, which has become a viable machinery to enforce international standards on maritime safety, maritime health and the protection of the marine environment, proves that the rise of the port state in international law was a conscious process of restricting the customary authority of coastal states over ships in port and of aligning this authority to a general concept of an obligation to promote the inclusive interests of the global community. The emergence of a port State control system in the Asia-Pacific region confirms the validity of a theory of port state jurisdiction founded on the premise of a sustainable "international law of cooperation.". |
