Well that didn't take long - Donegal vessel blocked from fishing around Rockall by Scottish patrol boat

[kippers26]

As a matter of routine, maybe, but if a boat is low enough on fuel that they risk not getting home, I don't see the crew being packed off to chokey because they called in at the wrong place. The skipper may get grief for gross incompetence, but that's another matter.

Donegal seems to have some Jobs worth fishery inspectors Just hope the custom and excise boys retain a sense of normality or runs across the Irish sea could be a problem. Following is copied from face book comments.
" The SFPA formally cautioned both skippers and told them they were breaking the law by coming into Greencastle. Told not to land anything on the pier and that they were breaking EU legislation by being tied to the pier. Would not allow them to get diesel and only after they phoned their bosses were they allowed to stay overnight and to be gone by the morning "
The fisheries officers attitude does not seem to agree with international law so this could provide an interesting few days in court if anyone has enough money.
Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of customary international law that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law.[1] In the realm of international law, it has been defined as “freedom of movement for vessels, freedom to enter ports and to make use of plant and docks, to load and unload goods and to transport goods and passengers.[2] This right is now also codified as Article 87(1)a of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Britain and Ireland both lay claim to the waters around Rockall, because of potential economic benefits. If they cannot agree they could submit to international arbitration, but neither side seems keen to do this. One possible outcome of arbitration would be that neither claim would be supported, on the grounds that Rockall is not in any meaningful sense inhabitable and would not be deemed part of any nation.

The UK already accepts that it is uninhabitable which is why it does not extend the UK's 200 mile EEZ. The UK claims it is part of its territory however, which gives it a 12 mile exclusion zone.

The UK had a very good reason to claim it in the 1950's - if we had not the Russians would have claimed it. And that would not have helped any of the neighbouring nations.

 

[newtothis]

Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of customary international law that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law.[1] In the realm of international law, it has been defined as “freedom of movement for vessels, freedom to enter ports and to make use of plant and docks, to load and unload goods and to transport goods and passengers.[2] This right is now also codified as Article 87(1)a of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

On the other hand there is also the well-established concept of cabotage, whereby a nation can restrict the loading of goods/passengers to vessels of its own flag/national ownership. See the US Jones Act et al. Maritime law is not quite the free for all that people sometimes think. An if you happen to be an Iranian tanker master, good luck with just rocking up in Houston and claiming you have the freedom to enter port and offload your cargo. Although to be fair, that cargo will be offloaded, along with the crew and the ship's ownership papers.

 

[Fascadale]

I don’t know if this is statistically significant but when I sailed to Rockall there was an RoI fishing vessel already there

The Irish do claim an interest

 

[afterpegassus]

I don’t know if this is statistically significant but when I sailed to Rockall there was an RoI fishing vessel already there

The Irish do claim an interest

Almost any day of the year, there will be Irish fishing vessels in Rockall's proximity.
I know this from a number of fishermen friends who frequent the area.

 

[dgadee]

Oh the Empire it is finished
No foreign lands to seize
So the greedy eye of England
I stirring towards the seas
Two hundred miles from Donegal
There's a place that's called Rockall
And the groping hands of Whitehall
Are grabbing at it's walls.

Oh rock on Rockall you'll never fall
For Britains greedy hands
Oh you'll meet the same resistance
Like you did in many lands
May the Seagulls rise and pluck your eyes
And the water crush your shell
And the natural gas will burn your ass
And blow you all to hell

This rock is part of Ireland
For it's written in folklore
When Finn McCool took a sod of grass
He threw it to the fore
When he tossed a pebble across the sea
Where ever did it fall
For the sod became the Isle of Man
Now the pebble's called Rockall


Punctuation not great.