Vessel Charters in Sea and Space.

The article focuses on refining the legal classification of vessel charter parties to accurately assign responsibility for vessels' conduct in increasingly complex maritime and emerging space contexts. It distinguishes two broad categories: bailments of vessels, where possession and control transfer to the charterer (e.g., bareboat demise charters), and carriage charters, where the owner retains possession and provides carriage services (e.g., time and voyage charters). The article emphasizes that legal responsibility depends on the specific rights and duties allocated in each charter, rather than merely on the form or label of the agreement, highlighting challenges posed by deceptive practices such as sham bareboat charters and self-demising arrangements. It further argues that the longstanding customary and necessary laws underlying vessel charters, rooted in property and admiralty law, offer a useful framework for addressing analogous legal issues in space law, where sovereignty is absent and customary principles must govern navigation and liability. This jurisprudential approach aids both maritime law enforcement and the development of space traffic regulation by clarifying who holds possession, command, and navigation responsibilities.