Modern Q-ship possibilities

[Otto Harkaman]

China Has Militarized Seafarers Says US Navy Report

Over the many years of reporting maritime news, the idea that China could militarize its commercial maritime fleet has been dismissed by most of the shipping community, but a new report published by the US Naval War College shows that this is not only a possibility but has already been accomplished.

https://gcaptain.com/warning-china-h...its-seafarers/

China’s Container Missile Deployments Could Violate the Law of Naval Warfare

Raul (Pete) Pedrozo
Abstract

China is reportedly developing long-range cruise missiles that can be fired from standard shipping containers loaded on merchant vessels. China is also converting heavy-lift civilian ships and roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferries to serve as de facto amphibious assault ships to support People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amphibious operations. While none of these activities are illegal per se, they do raise potential concerns under the law of naval warfare. Only warships can engage in offensive belligerent rights during an international armed conflict. Using merchant vessels to engage in belligerent rights would violate international law unless China first converts the vessels into warships in accordance with the rules set out in the 1907 Hague Convention VII. Using converted commercial ships to directly support military operations increases the risk that all Chinese-flagged container ships and RORO ferries will be targeted as military objectives given that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between a converted and non-converted vessel.

https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/ils/vol97/iss1/45/