With the surf boat charter season coming around, I thought it worthwhile that we all review the Custom of the Sea when it comes time to planning for your surf boat trip over winter - after all you can never be too prepared. So lets outline a scenario and review your rights and recommended course of action in the event that everything goes really wrong.
SCENARIO: You and 3 of your best mates have teamed up with another group of 4 on a two week boat trip to a remote area of the Pacific. The Captain and the crew of three seem like nice people and you settle into the 7 day transit from Sydney.
SITUATION: Sometime on the morning of Day 3 there is an exhaust leak and an electrical fire onboard, you awake to assist in putting out the fire. One of the other party members is severely burned. The ships engines and communication systems are out.
It soon becomes apparent to you that the Captain and his crew were not nearly as professional as you first thought. The boats EPIRB fails to work and the radio back up batteries are dead. The captain did not lodge an arrival time at your destination. The boat was only provisioned for the 7 day trip.
After 24 hours, you have been blown well south of the major shipping routes and a nasty storm system settles in over the South Pacific which looks set to limit any rescue flights, not that they were likely to ever have been alerted to a problem in the first place. As you and your mates drink the last case of beer that night you conclude you are in a bit of a pickle.
Two days later the water runs out with the food. You manage to collect a bit of water each day using plastic sheets to collect dew etc but there being no fishing gear onboard people are starting to get very hungry.
The next morning the Captain and his crew call everyone together - oddly , you notice the captain is now wearing a revolver and the crew have knives. The Captain advises to all "We need to invoke the Custom of the Sea"
WHAT DOES HE MEAN? The Custom of the Sea he is referring to in this instance is the grey area of Internation Maritime Law that permits the legal practice of cannabalism in the case of shipwreck scenarios.
Firstly, the human body is reasonably capable of surviving without food for around 30 days so you have some time to wait for help. If no rescue has been forthcoming by that time then you should be prepared for the custom to unfold. In order for any survivors to avoid prosecution for murder, there needs to be two ballots held, the 'short straw' method being the most accepted and reasonably difficult to falsify. The first ballot determines who is to be 'given up' and the second determines who is to kill them in order for them to be eaten. The captain will typically not participate in the draw and is exempt from either being eaten or killing - rank hath it's privledges. Should subsequent draws be required to consume additional shipmates then it is customary for the captain to be involved in those draws and all draws moving forward. The ships 'crew' however are not exempt from any ballot draw.
YOUR RIGHTS: The fact that one of the other crew members is seriously ill does not automatically ensure he should be eaten first. All crew members must draw straws as above with the shortest straw being the person who should be eaten first. It is acceptable for someone to 'volunteer' to be eaten first. If this is the case then it should be annotated in the Ship's Log with the remaining survivors signing the entry as proof. Crew members should avoid 'volunteering' to be executioner as this can raise concerns amongst survivors that the executioner was volunteering to enact a revenge motive as opposed to fulfilling a necessary task onboard.
If you are selected to be eaten, you have the right to delay the process by one hour in order to pen your last memo, collect your thoughts and compose your 'last words'. You also have the right to choose how you are to be harvested based on the options available, clearly this needs to be balanced by the state of your body post mortem and the effect this will have on consumption by the crew. ie you cannot choose to be killed by explosives or poison. Typically death by gunshot or by severe head trauma is highly recommended to satisfy all parties requirements in this scenario.
Importantly, you have the right to remove yourself from the boat and all proceedings at any stage of the process PRIOR to a ballot draw. In removing yourself you are not to take with you and equipment which will restrict the ability of the remaining crew to survive. Your options thus fall down to swimming away in the water or paddling away your board. You are able to return at any stage PRIOR to a ballot having been drawn. For example, you decide to leave in the middle of the night prior to the ballot being drawn. The boat picks you up an hour later in the water after you change your mind, the captain is obliged to take you back onboard but you MUST partake in the ballot when it is held.
If you return to the ship two hours later and the ballot has already been drawn then the Captain is under no obligation to take you back onboard.
With the above system in place, you should be able to survive several months at which time presumably you or the remaining survivors will be rescued. If rescue does not eventuate then clearly this system will permit one crew member to survive for as long as possible in accordance with the Custom of the Sea.
Options involving 'rushing' the crew, murdering a weaker member of the crew etc should be avoided as in the likely circumstance that a number of the crew survive then they stand a very high chance of being criminally charged of both murder and cannibalism.
AFTER THE RESCUE: Accounts drawing to the mental state of shipwreck / cannabalistic survivals are unfortunately grim. Perhaps the best documented case of the Custom of the Sea occured in 1821 when the crew of the Whaleship Essex were forced to practice the Custom after their ship was rammed and sunk by a Sperm Whale of the coast of Chile. Seven crew members in all were eaten in one boat over a three month period. When the two survivors were rescued, first hand account described them as "bug eyed skeletal wretches crouching over stacks of stripped human ribs with fingerbones stuffed in their pockets"
JUST TO BE SURE: Similar to the method of determining whether the 'two shot rule' is in force prior to commencing a game of pool with your competitor, it is best to flag your captains interpretation of the Custom of The Sea prior to setting sail. This will prevent and embarisment or awkward conversations later in your voyage.
