Legal and Ethical Aspects Concerning Human Remains in Water and Burial at Sea

Under public international law, the sea is currently divided, on the basis of provisions of the United Nations Treaty on the Law of the Sea into different areas, in which the rights and interests of the coastal states and the rights of other states are balanced [1, 2]. These areas have each a different legal status, which affects the competences of states in issues related, for instance, to sunken ships and human remains, retrieval and investigations of floating human bodies, as well as rights to bury a deceased at sea.