ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cabotage

Cabotage is like when your mom tells you that you can't play with a toy that belongs to your friend who lives next door.

So when a ship or airplane wants to travel from one place to another but they also want to do things in between those places, like picking up or dropping off things at different ports, they have to follow the rules of cabotage. This means that they can't just freely move around in a country that they're not from, they have to follow the rules of the country they're in. Just like how you can't just take your friend's toy and play with it without their permission, a foreign ship or airplane can't just come into a country and do whatever they want without the permission of that country's government.

So, for example, if a French airline wants to fly from Paris to New York City, and then make stops in other cities in the United States like Miami, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles before flying back to Paris, they can't just fly around in the United States without permission. They have to follow the rules set by the United States government about moving around within its borders. This helps keep track of who is going where and for what reason, and helps prevent bad things from happening.