As in the case of criminal jurisdiction, w^hile foreign merchant ships voluntarily
navigate or stay in internal waters of a coastal State, they subject themselves to the
civil jurisdiction of the State in the sense of both regulation and application, unless
otherwise agreed by treaty between the coastal State and the flag State. The
proposition does not, however, automatically lead to the claim that the coastal
State is thus seized of the civil jurisdiction on all civil disputes with regard to
these ships. Moreover, in some cases, the coastal State cannot assume civil jurisdiction
notwithstanding the fact that its domestic law may, as one alternative,
attribute jurisdiction to its proper courts.