In such a case, ship owners can sue in Turkey for the damages, and have Turkish courts freeze Georgian assets until the reparation is made to compensate the owner. Separately, Turkish captain and the crew, as well as Azeri crew can sue Georgia in Turkish and Azerbaijan courts for the damages, requesting again that Geogian assets are frozen until the reparations are paid. It is really very simple under the international law of the sea. Georgia cannot, in spite of its claim of sovereignity, detain commercial ships in open or terrritorial waters . It cannot even ask for the ships to ask for the permission to sail within territorial waters. Shipping as we know it would be severly impeded should any country choose to require all merchant marine to ask for permission. Georgia is testing the waters by boarding the ships on the pretext of checking for illicit cargo, but then confiscating ship and the legal cargo, and detaining and fining the crew. However, it is quite possible that the Turkey and Azerbaijan will choose not to protect their private property and their citizens, as such legal action would infuriate the governments that are advising Georgia.