I was watching the repeated series of Border Security, on the front line tv documentary, and Canadian Customs did a full search on a huge car transporter ship that was docked .
The officers found a young lady on the ship, she looked Indian or Sri Lankan to me, and did not have a visa to enter Canada.
The Customs officer said the Captain or the ship owner could fined $ 32,000 and she could be deported .
My question is, she had no intention of leaving the ship, why would she want to get off and enter on Canadian soil ?And why the need for a visa ?
Secondly, what is the maritime law for a ship and its passengers while docked in overseas territory, with regard to a passenger on a working ship ?
She was let off with a warning , and the ship , and its Captain were logged on the Customs file/database to be fully compliant to Canadian laws , and regulations, this is a bit like the traffic light system for lorries by the DVSA for a OCRS system .
Red for a naughty lorry, be on the look out for this rogue driver , amber, then green for the good lorry and driver.
And lastly , do ship owners have a scoring system , so the authorities can be warned ahead of docking if they are good guys or bad guys ?
Cant say for sure Tobes, but I imagine a reporting system of some sort would be in place. But cant see why if she had no intention of going ashore they should get on thier high horse cos afterall the ship still is under the juristriction of the flag state and not the Canadians, but what was she doing on it in the first place ? Can well remember getting a severe bollicking off the customs rumage crew after they found 600 ciggies in the engine room, filipino engineer not me !!! could hardly stop smiling as he was tearing a strip off me for not keeping a closer tally of the duty free supplies, he was sitting on the settee and about 6 inches under his arse were 3000 L & M … 
that later on went in my car (allegedly)
The narrator did not say why she was on the ship, but the Customs did find an illegal flick knife hidden inside a life boat .Once again a ticking off, no fine or action take, but they ceased the knife .
Years ago , I got fed up with attempted cab break in`s while driving around Europe.
It is legal to buy CS gas or pepper spray in Europe, as they sold this on the motorway and at truck stops .
It is illegal in the UK, and classed as a weapon and jail time if caught, so I would hide it in my pants while shipping in to the UK.
It is legal to buy a blank firing pistol in Europe, so I bought one in a hunting shop in Le Havre with no checks .
I stopped on the hard shoulder around Barcelona to fix a loose buckle on the front of the trailer .
With me stood on the catwalk, I saw a bearded man climbing in my cab with his legs hanging out the cab window, he said he was looking for ■■■■, so I said, no you are not, where is my passport, and I thought he took my money, so I leapt in my cab to grab my shooter, and fired off a few rounds, he ran off like Usain Bolt down the motorway embankment.
By this time I had an audience of stunned female office workers , with their jaws dropped at the Glint Eastwood shoot out.
Portsmouth Customs took my blank gun off me, as I declared it on arrival, but they gave it back to me when I shipped out later, out of the uk, he did get the police to check the gun.
I legally bought in Ghent a .22 handgun and a .22 rifle and the clip held 10 rounds and one up the spout just by showing my passport, and I could legally keep them in the UK and did not leave the ship becuse in them days it were ok for the master of a British registered ship to have them without holding a fire arms certificate. (edited)
toby1234abc:
Portsmouth Customs took my blank gun off me, as I declared it on arrival, but they gave it back to me when I shipped out later, out of the uk, he did get the police to check the gun.
Why did they take it off you as it’s not an offence (or wasn’t) to have a blank firer providing it’s kept put of sight in public or you don’t use it to intimidate or put fear into members of the public …
I think he put the fear of God into that particular member of the public TBF 
good_friend:
I think he put the fear of God into that particular member of the public TBF
So did I back in '95 and it cost me £1250 but that wasn’t with a toy …
Portsmouth Customs man put it in a forensic type bag then sealed it , and told me to collect it when I ship out .
But you are right, no law broken so not sure why I couldn’t keep it .
Was only in the UK for three days.