Responsibility for rescued asylum seekers could go either way
Professor Donald Rothwell, from the Australian National University, is one of Australia's top analysts of international maritime law.
He says the issue lies with whether or not the rescued asylum seekers still remain aboard the vessel they were rescued from.
If unconfirmed reports that the group has been transferred to an Australian warship are true, it means Indonesia holds responsibility.
"The rescue, to all intents and purposes, would have occurred within the Indonesian search and rescue zone," Professor Rothwell said.
"Australia would then have a legitimate expectation that those persons could be taken to the nearest available Indonesian port and disembarked and that Indonesia would assume responsibility for the care of those persons."
However, if the asylum seekers are still on board their original boat, Professor Rothwell says Australia could end up before the international maritime court.
"If the asylum seekers are still on the boat and we are no longer in a situation of the vessel being in distress, we're probably then very much approaching a standoff whereby one can assume that the persons on board the vessel are very keen to seek to resume their journey towards Australia," he said.
"Ultimately, if this was to develop into a very significant dispute, this matter is one that could go before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.". . . one way or the other, the tzxi service has to stop
