Sunken warships and military aircraft

Sunken warships, naval auxiliaries and other vessels owned or operated by a State and used at the time they sank only on government non-commercial service, and sunken aircraft used in military, customs and police services are historical artifacts of special importance and entitled to special protections. In particular, title to such vessels and aircraft is not lost by the mere passage of time. Title is lost only by capture or surrender during battle (before sinking), by international agreement, or by an express act of abandonment, gift or sale by the sovereign in accordance with relevant principles of international law and the law of the flag State governing the abandonment of government property. Further, these ships and aircraft may be the last resting places of many sailors and airmen who died in service. A coastal State does not acquire any right of ownership to a sunken state vessel or aircraft by reason of its being located on or embedded in land or the sea-bed over which it exercises sovereignty or jurisdiction. Access to such vessels and aircraft and their associated artifacts located on or embedded in the sea-bed of foreign archipelagic waters, territorial seas or contiguous zones, is subject to coastal State control in accordance with international law.