What are my options if if we are yachting and there is a death in the family.?

Question

I am not a murderer or anything, but my parents, my wife and I intend to put to sea and travel on our yacht until we die or are otherwise forced to stop. We are all over fifty, and all of us will die eventually. Sometimes you are weeks from land. What do we do if one of us dies? If we have a burial at sea, somebody might think we mudered the person that passed. Who would we tell any way? Our next port more likely than not would have a non english speaking government. I just want to know what we are obligated to do under international law, and I cannot find anything on the internet about it.

Answer 1

Well, John F. Kennedy Jr. was burried at sea along with many others.

I think it would be prudent to contact your Gov't as soon as an incident like this occurs...prior to contacting anyone in the Gov't of the waters you are in.

Nothing but best wishes.

Answer 2

If you have your wife and parents sign a waiver saying that you guys plan to sail until you die wouldn't that be fine? I know when people used to duel with swords or guns they would sign a waiver and everything was fine legally because they knew they were in it to die.

You probably should talk to a lawyer drawing up some kind of waiver or contract.

Answer 3

I sugest you go to the nearist athorites and talk to the famly befor a burial at sea. and then go out an do the burial. if you dont come back to the US no one will ask questions.

Remember

it will take alot of money and time unless you have a deadly desies

Answer 4

How old are you, son?

Answer 5

I am guessing you could just report it to authorities or whoever as they died.  I dont think you would be considered a murderer.  If you are really worried about this and you do in fact plan to stay out to sea and have at sea burials and the such I would have your whole group meet with an attorney and fill you wills out to me. (just kidding but if you want to lol)  but yeah talk to an attorney and if thats what you want to do and you have the money to sit out at sea i am sure you can spare some to get documents written for you all to be able to do this and if one dies none of you will be to blame.  But the at sea burial could be littering couldnt it.  As bad as that sounds i dont think you can just dump bodies in the sea.  But if its international waters there are no laws so who knows.  

Like I said talk to an attorney they should be able to help you out.

Good luck have fun I love sailing that would be a good way to go out at sea.

Answer 6

Although a burial at sea is the most obvious,you have raised a good question,you could'nt be expected to keep the body on board because of the stench and health risk,and as you say,what if you land somewhere with a language problem.

I think it's just a case of everyone on board backing up your story,and one more thing, everyone remaining friends,just imagine  a member of the family turning you over to the authorities,they would throw away the key.

Answer 7

So, in trying to deduce this answer are you in the process of Dead Reckoning?

Sorry - just has to get that in there.

In all seriousness:

I've tried looking into other regulations and proper conduct and what I've discoverd is that often there is no simple answer.      The problem can be that there may be many over lapping jurisdictions with different laws and procedures.     If you are in international water, international law may apply, but the countries of citizenship, vesssel documentation and the country you arrive at after the incident may all come into play.     Certainly a missing body will raise more suspicision, but I expect the context will matter.    If you have a will stating someone wants to be burried at sea, have documented the circumstances, have witnesses, don't have anyplace to store a body, have no communications and were halfway between Panama and the Maquesas, it will be looked at differently than an overnight trip back to the U.S. from the Bahamas, where you casually call the aurhtories a day later.

My guess is that even though you'd all like to cruise until the day you die, life on a boat is hard and when someones health goes, they probably will come the conclusion that passagemaking is no longer the appropriate lifestyle.   I think that someone will die of old age unexpectedly on a passage is in reality not likely, but as you said, we all die someday and it's possible, so its good to think ahead none the less.

Although many boats, may not have long-range communications, I think as you get older, it makes more sense to invest in something like a satellite phone, not just to deal with an unexpected death, but as you get older, accidents and illnesses which will not kill you are more likely and two-way communications can make all the differences.   It will also provide the benefit of being able to talk to authorities locally and at home to make sure you are acting appropriately in the unfortunate case a death should occur.

To deal with the language barrier you may wish to have the phone numbers for your countrie's counsulates in the countries you will be visiting. With a satellite phone, you can call them before you even arrive.  I think you will find that most ports also have someone who speaks at least some english and my guess is that with a death, you'll be at or near the top of the priority list.

Answer 8

Dammit, these are the type of questions that keep me from sleeping at night.

I am sure they (*US Govn, assuming, however incorrectly it may be, that you are American) would expect you to contact the nearest law enforcement agency and document it...because if 4 leave and 3 come back, someones going to ask, eventually.

Answer 9

That is exactly how my husband would have liked things to end.  It sounds like a great plan.

Possibly get some legal advice about it before you set sail.  Then about all you can do is report it to your own country's authorities when you have the chance to do so.  Will there be anyone at home who will need to know?  Children?  Siblings?  If there is no one who needs to know and no one to whom it will make a difference, simply keep a daily record in your log of events, and I believe this is considered a legal document.  You should probably each have a will with someone at home, documenting this plan, just in case.

Happy sailing.  Many years ago before I knew him my husband was preparing to go cruising but there was always something to hold him back.  An old salt told him one day "Sonny, if you wait til you're ready you'll never go."  I am very glad we went sailing when we did.

Answer 10

I found this:

Records of birth and death occurring on vessels or aircraft on the high seas

When a birth or death occurs on the high seas, whether in an aircraft or on a vessel, the record is usually filed at the next port of call.

1. If the vessel or aircraft docked or landed at a foreign port, requests for copies of the record may be made to the U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-1705.

2. If the first port of entry was in the United States, write to the registration authority in the city where the vessel or aircraft docked or landed in the United States.

3. If the vessel was of U.S. registry, contact the local authorities at the port of entry and/or search the vessel logs at the U.S. Coast Guard Facility at the vessel's final port of call for that voyage.

It doesn't mention what to do with the remains of the deceased, but it sounds like you have to keep them until you reach the next port.

If you are seriously interested you should contact either the US Coast Guard or the US Department of State as the death certificate would be forwarded back to the US.