UNCLOS was designed for a world of consensus, not for shadow fleets and geopolitical rivalries, says an academic. LANCASTER, England: The dramatic seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera/Bella 1 in the north Atlantic, carried out by the United States Coast Guard with British support, underscores the collision between maritime law and power politics. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ships on the high seas enjoy freedom of navigation and fall under the