This report confirms what I used to think was not possible in this day and age; however, it is the sad truth. For most people alive on this planet, human life has become almost completely meaningless. I don't care how complex or byzantine the process; the culpable parties should be held accountable. How can the government of Greece (and others) sit by and DO NOTHING? Shame on all involved. There should be no mercy.
2
very well written and all true,
We also have a problem in the eastern Pacific, off Central America and I-WE will be dealing with this illegal fishing soon, harshly. It will stop,and your boats & crews will be seized and then for me, sunk after the oils removed. Hope to employ a drone developed at U of T CC.
Viva El Frente Verde
Senor Pescador
Fair Trade Fish
Fishermans Cultural Society
We also have a problem in the eastern Pacific, off Central America and I-WE will be dealing with this illegal fishing soon, harshly. It will stop,and your boats & crews will be seized and then for me, sunk after the oils removed. Hope to employ a drone developed at U of T CC.
Viva El Frente Verde
Senor Pescador
Fair Trade Fish
Fishermans Cultural Society
Fascinating and disturbing article. I recently read two books--one fictional (Voltaire's "Candide") and one factual (Samuels' "From Forecastle to Cabin")--both of which describe similar horrors at sea in merchant ships in the 18th and 19th centuries. Apparently, not much has changed since then.
Shipping has a long and proud history and, despite the despicable actions documented in these excellent articles, I believe that the traditions of the sea continue to manifest the highest ideals of humanity. I work as a crisis response manager for the shipping industry and, whether it’s a senior executive holding back tears when discussing the death of a crew member, or an experienced captain struggling to maintain composure as he reports that he failed to save all the migrants from an over loaded boat, I am continually impressed by the caring individuals who dominate the industry. The shipping industry must do more to root out those that disgrace our proud sector, but let’s remember that the deeds recounted here are not representative of an industry that routinely goes far out of its way to assist those in need.
1
I have read many comments that reference the UNCLOS treaty and U.S. reluctance to become a signatory to the convention. Although the U.S. has not ratified the treaty, the issues brought to light in the article are the not the reasons we have yet to ratify and as a matter of national security, agree in principle to all but one conference, regarding seabed minerals outside of a nations Exclusive Economic Zone. Freedom of navigation has and will be a core national security strategy to ensure customary international maritime laws are enforced on the high seas.
Typically Urbina-esque: extremely well-reported, incredibly compelling...and extraordinarily distressing. Unfortunately, this particular issue presents more of a Rubik's Cube of challenges than most of those he's written about. The overwhelming lack of oversight and responsibility created by the absence of clear-cut jurisdictions or enforceable laws makes "solving" this problem seem near impossible. Add to that the cast of murderers and psychopaths that run the companies and captain the ships and it's clear we're going to need revolutionary new strategies to change this.
Just use the profit motive and national self interest. Get rid of this silly rule where a government can't inspect ships in international waters unless they are flying its own flag. The wealthy countries can institute a system by which there is a regular set of laws by which all ships are required to operate everywhere, with minimal allowance for non-compliance. If any ship in international waters is too far out of compliance, it is seized immediately and sold or scrapped for profit after a short adjudication process. It would be pointless for any ship to fly a flag of convenience; everyone would want to fly the flag of a strong country that could go to bat for them if they got into trouble.
There's no reason to wait around in frustration until a morally equitable solution can be implemented. That would be nice to have someday, but until then, address the problem the way we do every other international problem- pure power politics. The threat of retaliation between powerful countries would keep them it check, and poor countries would have to submit, as usual.
When I was a 9 year-old, with my parents in international waters on a U.S.-flagged sailboat, in the middle of the night and a raging storm, a 150 foot-long U.S. Coast Guard ship bore down on us and ordered us to stop and be boarded for a "safety inspection" (a euphemism for "drug and immigrant search"). We had to comply, or they would've seized our boat. Just do that to anybody, anywhere, and bank the profit.
There's no reason to wait around in frustration until a morally equitable solution can be implemented. That would be nice to have someday, but until then, address the problem the way we do every other international problem- pure power politics. The threat of retaliation between powerful countries would keep them it check, and poor countries would have to submit, as usual.
When I was a 9 year-old, with my parents in international waters on a U.S.-flagged sailboat, in the middle of the night and a raging storm, a 150 foot-long U.S. Coast Guard ship bore down on us and ordered us to stop and be boarded for a "safety inspection" (a euphemism for "drug and immigrant search"). We had to comply, or they would've seized our boat. Just do that to anybody, anywhere, and bank the profit.
1
All of the countries in the world with well established and relatively law abiding ocean going fleets and Navy's should organize together. Using satellites and other technology, these dangerous vessels should be identified, located, confiscated and scrapped. Keeping the oceans clean and abuse and murder on the seas should be a high priority wherever it can occur.
3
Glad to have this information in well written article.
Nations receiving ships, those not landlocked, should agree by treaty to inspect each ship upon entering port, perhaps interviewing a few crew members anonymously, so the "crime scene" stops momentarily at least, verifying crew payments are made, food is adequate, living and working conditions fit the route/destination of the ship.
1
As world population increases, so too will articles such as this. On a related matter, some years ago I worked in a shipyard on the West Coast, and fellow "yardbirds" hated it when a Greek-flagged vessel came into the yard. They were invariably aging, dirty and poorly maintained. (Scanadavians were by far the best!) We concluded there was a reason that Greece was a maritime power: the owners bought ships on the cheap (Greece was where ships went to die) and unscrupulously managed them and their crews. What really surprises is that maritime insurance is still available for these ships.
1
Ian Urbina wrote: "Ships intentionally dump more engine oil and sludge into the oceans in the span of three years than that spilled in the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez accidents combined, ocean researchers say, and emit huge amounts of certain air pollutants, far more than all the world’s cars. Commercial fishing, much of it illegal, has so efficiently plundered marine stocks that the world’s population of predatory fish has declined by two thirds."
I would like the sources for these assertions, since they are incredible and horrible. A piece on these assertions and sources with links would help those of us who wish to get on board and form a chorus.
I would like the sources for these assertions, since they are incredible and horrible. A piece on these assertions and sources with links would help those of us who wish to get on board and form a chorus.
7
I enjoyed the article but believe that a large amount of credit belongs to Rose George. She wrote the seminal work on this topic "Ninety Percent of Everything" in 2013. I highly recommend it and no, I am not related nor do I know her.
Seth Langson
Seth Langson
2
Thanks for citing Rose George's book
It seems obvious to me that if you charge ships a high fee for bringing in stowaways to a port, you motivate the captains of those ships to dump such stowaways overboard before they get to port. It is only common sense that ship captains should not be charged fees when they are subject to trespassing by stowaways.
There are many other dangers and problems on the seas even apart from environmental or labor abuses --- many sailboats and small motorboats disappear each year, lost with all hands -- it is thought that many may be hit by carrier or freighter ships, or collide with partially submerged shipping containers that fell off cargo ships. See here:
http://www.oceannavigator.com/March-April-2013/A-legendary-offshore-danger/
There is also the problem of the huge "islands" of plastic garbage building up in the middle of the sea. Besides being an environmental hazard, what would happen if a small ship drifted into this plastic island? Could it become caught up in the debris?
There are many reasons why it's so important for us to collectively gain control over what is happening in the world oceans.
There are many other dangers and problems on the seas even apart from environmental or labor abuses --- many sailboats and small motorboats disappear each year, lost with all hands -- it is thought that many may be hit by carrier or freighter ships, or collide with partially submerged shipping containers that fell off cargo ships. See here:
http://www.oceannavigator.com/March-April-2013/A-legendary-offshore-danger/
There is also the problem of the huge "islands" of plastic garbage building up in the middle of the sea. Besides being an environmental hazard, what would happen if a small ship drifted into this plastic island? Could it become caught up in the debris?
There are many reasons why it's so important for us to collectively gain control over what is happening in the world oceans.
4
Brilliant reportage.
3
If you are interested in this topic, read B. Traven's "The Death Ship," from 100 years ago...much the same then as now...but the environmental as well as human costs are more urgent than ever.
4
brilliant reporting. Thank you
3
Time for a new set of Navigation Acts?
Nah, that would inconvenience the rich ship owners too much.
Note that the US Coast Guard chief of Enforcement for the ENTIRE PACIFIC OCEAN retired as a Commander (0-5); I'm too lazy to consult the Pentagon directories, but I'll bet there is a Rear Admiral for Diversity ()-7) or two squirreled away somewhere there. Even we really don't want to get involved too deeply.
Realistically, a new set of Navigation Acts (US bound cargo in US flagged and crewed ships, with a twenty year phase in- NO EXTENSIONS, jobs and industrial stimulus, what is not to like?), and unilaterally enabling the worlds largest Blue Water Navy (You know, the US, the one with the Carriers?) to well, unilaterally seize, condemn and SCRAP problem ships like the one cited.
If you "auction" them, they will just reenter the market, like the drug smugglers aircraft, that I understand sometimes make multiple trips through Federal hands.
Nah, that would inconvenience the rich ship owners too much.
Note that the US Coast Guard chief of Enforcement for the ENTIRE PACIFIC OCEAN retired as a Commander (0-5); I'm too lazy to consult the Pentagon directories, but I'll bet there is a Rear Admiral for Diversity ()-7) or two squirreled away somewhere there. Even we really don't want to get involved too deeply.
Realistically, a new set of Navigation Acts (US bound cargo in US flagged and crewed ships, with a twenty year phase in- NO EXTENSIONS, jobs and industrial stimulus, what is not to like?), and unilaterally enabling the worlds largest Blue Water Navy (You know, the US, the one with the Carriers?) to well, unilaterally seize, condemn and SCRAP problem ships like the one cited.
If you "auction" them, they will just reenter the market, like the drug smugglers aircraft, that I understand sometimes make multiple trips through Federal hands.
2
This article should have had a more general title. I almost didn't read it because I thought it was just about one ship. The material in the article is excellent and very important.
11
These kinds of abuses are everywhere in the maritime world. If you think American vessels are any better, please think again. As Brad notes, we have not yet signed the international Law of the Sea Treaty. Rape and some other violent crimes on U.S. vessels were not even criminalized until 1990. on U.S. vessels, and they are seldom prosecuted even today. Maritime work is some of the most dangerous work in the world, and not just because of weather, machinery, and toxic cargoes. The open ocean is indeed a lawless place.
8
The US is the main hold out to some 37 international treaties. http://vote.org/treaties This list could be out of date.
1
A masterpeace!!! Thank you Ian for that extremly well researched article. It tells the story as it is and as we hear it from survivors. Fascinating! Also the Vid-clips restore and preserve the fear that men go through aboard the vessels. I am most glad you have told the story of a stil unknown crime.
6
The unregulated shipping industry is a threat to our national security that can easily be exploited by our enemies.
4
Why isn't the U.N. doing its job and taking out pirate ships on the high seas? Why are civilised countries allowing Greek and Liberian ships and others to land in their ports? We can't hide at home forever.
1
I am sorry, I might have misunderstood your post, but are you actually implying that Greece is not a civilized country, unlike those that allow its ships to enter ports?!
Is there no role for the United Nations Organization in the regulation of maritime problems...and ships of this type?
1
The U.N. is only as powerful as its members allow it to be & those with veto have the ability to sink or delay things they don't deem an absolute positive for their own agenda or they can just refuse outright to be party to it.
e.g. Law of the Sea Treaty 1982 has yet to be voted on by the US Senate!
Edwin Meese, U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan, explained, "...it was out of step with the concepts of economic liberty and free enterprise .."
Economic liberty and free enterprise? for some, trafficking people, weapons and drugs, human rights abuses, lawlessness, even murder are economic liberty and free enterprise.
e.g. Law of the Sea Treaty 1982 has yet to be voted on by the US Senate!
Edwin Meese, U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan, explained, "...it was out of step with the concepts of economic liberty and free enterprise .."
Economic liberty and free enterprise? for some, trafficking people, weapons and drugs, human rights abuses, lawlessness, even murder are economic liberty and free enterprise.
3
Excellent story! This kind of in-depth reporting is why I pay $15/mo for a digital subscription.
4
Yes. Definitely some terrific reporting that comes from the Times. After getting the Times online for a few years now, I've come to really appreciate the depth and breadth of the stories that appear here. For example, the few exposes they did on Riker's Island was, I thought, terrific. I hope that the stories garnered attention by those who are in power and can do something about the ugly, abusive, corrupt system that lets these vicious, power-mad COs beat and, in some cases, murder inmates for sometimes little to no reason while they are basically immune to any sort of sanction, even firing, since their union seems to be a haven of corruption & cronyism as well. Also, the 4-part series on the group of towers that are around Central Park in Manhattan, i.e., the Time Warner Center, was well-written, showed their flair for access & entree as well as just plain hard work in getting to the bottom of topics, by ferreting out as much as they can, in order to substantiate any & all assertions, interview revelations, etc. by getting more than the mere norm of at least 2 independent corroborations. This latest one is another example of the disappearing art of investigative journalism which has largely gone away in journalism today, at least in newspapers-many papers lack the funds, the staff & resources to do such great work, thankfully, though, the Times, despite what detractors may say about them, has consistently come off as fair, as complete as possible and unbiased as I've seen.
1
A brilliant piece of journalism that encompasses personal narratives and global issues.
This brings to mind The Death Ship by B. Traven, published in 1926, about this situation. If you want to truly experience the unrelenting misery and despair of a sailor caught in the nightmare of statelessness, read this book.
This brings to mind The Death Ship by B. Traven, published in 1926, about this situation. If you want to truly experience the unrelenting misery and despair of a sailor caught in the nightmare of statelessness, read this book.
2
B Traven is amazing. His "Government" presages the 1994 Zapatista rebellion almost exactly.
In 1975 I had the joy of working as a student in Captial Hill for US Senator Clifford Case, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Not known for chasing patronage dough, his core, heartfelt issue was the Law of the Sea Treaty, designed to address many of the issues raised brilliantly in this article. Case wasn't conservative enough for the GOP and in 1978 a candidate heavily supported by Ronald Reagan bounced Case in the primary. The GOP has since blocked the U.S. from signing the Law of the Sea Treaty of 1982 or promoting any further treaties. Unfortunatly, the GOP is likely to lump the issues raised here with global warming, critical matters that they'll deny, refute or ignore. Chance of U.S. participation in international action is sadly remote.
30
It may be that with the Arctic opening to exploitation, the US and Soviets will agree to amend the Law of the Sea, whose impetus was mineral nodules.
I was living in the Marshall Islands at that time, and such oceanic nations would eagerly join such an effort
I was living in the Marshall Islands at that time, and such oceanic nations would eagerly join such an effort
2
Was wondering how long it would be before it was Bush's fault! Thx for the laugh. Very well researched and written piece BTW.
2
It's such a shame that the President and rest of the Democrat party can't undo the evil what the Republicans promote. Perhaps there is way more to foreign policy than Democrats can't understand and to which President Obama gives it the necessary lip service?
1
Reality check this classic example of globilzation has caused or inflited on oceans. Question is how bad does have to get before usa learns to live with in its means an become self reliant . China is just source real issues comes by cumsumers who are enabling this
3
Simply a brilliantly told story. A big 'thank you' to all who were involved.
12
I will never forget how disgusting and polluted the waters in Buenos Aires port appeared as I left on ferry.
We have plenty of mine sweepers that can be converted and start scooping up all that trash in the Pacific, lots of firepower to go after Italian organized crime dumping toxic waste off the coast of Somalia, plenty of freighters to check out fishing trawlers and quotas in Asia.
The US has no trouble acting as the world's policeman and spending trillions fighting terrorists, so if we're going to be obnoxious and point guns at random people, add protecting the oceans to that list. Love us or hate us we know how to enforce the rules.
We have plenty of mine sweepers that can be converted and start scooping up all that trash in the Pacific, lots of firepower to go after Italian organized crime dumping toxic waste off the coast of Somalia, plenty of freighters to check out fishing trawlers and quotas in Asia.
The US has no trouble acting as the world's policeman and spending trillions fighting terrorists, so if we're going to be obnoxious and point guns at random people, add protecting the oceans to that list. Love us or hate us we know how to enforce the rules.
11
This is a superb piece of investigative journalism, and I look forward to the rest of the series.
It must be noted that the principal international law and treaty governing the oceans, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed by 167 nations since 1982, has not been ratified by the United States, ostensibly due to objections on provisions on seabed mineral rights.
This Convention on the Law of the Sea, which mostly concerns itself with economic rights and boundaries, would provide a excellent and strong existing platform on which to build an edifice of criminal jurisdiction and policing laws that would curb the criminal free-for-all behaviors reported.
In the matter of international treaties, our Government and Congress have often thrown out the baby with the bathwater, refusing to sign broadly accepted international treaties based on the narrowest of considerations while losing the golden opportunity to go shoulder-to-shoulder with other nations in curing the world's ills.
We should begin by signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea now.
It must be noted that the principal international law and treaty governing the oceans, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed by 167 nations since 1982, has not been ratified by the United States, ostensibly due to objections on provisions on seabed mineral rights.
This Convention on the Law of the Sea, which mostly concerns itself with economic rights and boundaries, would provide a excellent and strong existing platform on which to build an edifice of criminal jurisdiction and policing laws that would curb the criminal free-for-all behaviors reported.
In the matter of international treaties, our Government and Congress have often thrown out the baby with the bathwater, refusing to sign broadly accepted international treaties based on the narrowest of considerations while losing the golden opportunity to go shoulder-to-shoulder with other nations in curing the world's ills.
We should begin by signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea now.
17
You've hit the nail on the head. Thanks.
4
How would signing the convention prevent situations such as that in the article? And the US has signed it, it simply has not been ratified by the Senate.
This is journalism. Can't wait for the second piece. Thank you to all the journalists who worked on this project.
19
The answer is simple: an international treaty that requires transparent ownership, insurance, safety standards and licensing by a developed signatory country. Any noncomplying ship would be barred from port, and any business that used noncomplying ships would be liable for massive fines and possibly imprisonment. But wait, this would increase the cost of goods and lower the profits to be "earned" by reckless entrepreneurs.
The reality is that there is no political will to effectively manage global shipping because the human race is in a downward spiral of chasing more and more money at any cost, be it human misery or environmental destruction. Why would anyone stowaway on a ship under the circumstances described in this article? Because it provides a better life than staying at home. Home must be pretty bad. So we have a perfect storm: predators willing to do anything to make more money and hopeless potential laborers who are willing to endure anything in the hope of earning a few dollars and gaining a better life.
It ain't pretty. Think about it the next time you purchase goods made halfway around the world. Think about it next time you fill your gas guzzling SUV. Think about it next time you sneer at "bleeding heart liberals" who believe in low/no growth sustainability and are willing to live with less because we really have to.
The reality is that there is no political will to effectively manage global shipping because the human race is in a downward spiral of chasing more and more money at any cost, be it human misery or environmental destruction. Why would anyone stowaway on a ship under the circumstances described in this article? Because it provides a better life than staying at home. Home must be pretty bad. So we have a perfect storm: predators willing to do anything to make more money and hopeless potential laborers who are willing to endure anything in the hope of earning a few dollars and gaining a better life.
It ain't pretty. Think about it the next time you purchase goods made halfway around the world. Think about it next time you fill your gas guzzling SUV. Think about it next time you sneer at "bleeding heart liberals" who believe in low/no growth sustainability and are willing to live with less because we really have to.
31
great comment--well said.
4
Paying Attention, I am new to Portland and would like to contribute to any group that supports the views you express here. Please reply to my post a few down the line, if you can refer me to any relevant organizations.
Simple? Not so much...as you describe at the end of your piece. No political will to address the "unseen". Also, there's little economic incentives for reform. Be it the crimes committed, or the ever increasing pollution. Its all literally not in anyone's backyard, so who truly cares? Imagine a candidate running with these issues high on their platform. The yawns would drown them out, and the MSM, would maybe, maybe on a slow news day, maybe do a few short interest-pieces, buried in the newscast, and that'd be the end of it.
You also hit on a very important point. How bad is "home" for these men, that stowing away is seen as a good idea. That sort of bad is completely unknown to most Americans.
Plus, not delved into was the issue of the "Love Ships", vessels carrying prostitutes into ports. Imagine the horror on those ships! How many of those prostitutes are children, kidnapped children! How many are simply dumped overboard when they become too sick, show the effects of their many beatings and/or die. ?? Untold miseries of millions Im sure.
Under the sugar-coated-glaze of our excessive consumption and all the nice, "ethical", socially conscious "BRANDS" that American consumers drool over, only recently demanding that the factory workers be treated better, we sit back content for our narrowly aimed good-works, failing always to really pull back the curtains, that hide more curtains, and still more - showing how little respect we humans have for much of humanity.
You also hit on a very important point. How bad is "home" for these men, that stowing away is seen as a good idea. That sort of bad is completely unknown to most Americans.
Plus, not delved into was the issue of the "Love Ships", vessels carrying prostitutes into ports. Imagine the horror on those ships! How many of those prostitutes are children, kidnapped children! How many are simply dumped overboard when they become too sick, show the effects of their many beatings and/or die. ?? Untold miseries of millions Im sure.
Under the sugar-coated-glaze of our excessive consumption and all the nice, "ethical", socially conscious "BRANDS" that American consumers drool over, only recently demanding that the factory workers be treated better, we sit back content for our narrowly aimed good-works, failing always to really pull back the curtains, that hide more curtains, and still more - showing how little respect we humans have for much of humanity.
1
A great piece of journalism, and exactly the reason why I voluntarily choose to pay for a NYT subscription (rather than going around the easy-to-bypass paywall).
More stories like this please, and less about what the 2016 presidential candidates' wives' dresses tell us about XYZ.
More stories like this please, and less about what the 2016 presidential candidates' wives' dresses tell us about XYZ.
26
This author chose the worst possible example of high seas "crimes?" for a readership totally fed up with mass and illegal immigration and all the insulting to our citizen majority's intelligence excuses for Sanctuary Cities like policies. A crew evicting stowaway criminals off their ship ... into a raft? These criminals are lucky they were not thrown into sea without even life preservers! Citizen majorities around the world are fed up with their sovereignty being violated by design by colluding 1%ers and their bought and paid for media class of special interest advocate prostitutes advocating that our rich and powerful have a mysterious right to an infinite, unending supply of foreign slave wage labor. A "global labor market" that kills wages, impoverishes average taxpayers who have to "top off" wages with social services crumbs and dodge bullets and endure rapes by the second generation children of illegals/legals acting out their humiliation and rage at being lured here to be the functional equivalent of Plantation slaves ... and also very often their own lack of discipline and courage necessary to sit in classroom for a few hours a day and get a high school diploma, or avoid getting pregnant before they are 18.
8
Living in a suburban fantasy in Newbury Park, California. Your comment drips with contempt for the desperate poor, but seems to see no linkage between the exploitation of the poor and the affordable middle class lifestyle you enjoy. Clueless beyond hypocrisy.
33
You are too harsh and miserable. What happened to your share of the milk of human kindness?
4
Scofflaw? Let us not forget the law of neccessity. Sailors man a ship like this out of neccessity. If they disobey orders they no longer have a job.
The stowaways were not tossed overboard, they were put on a raft.
I am quite surprised to read all the praise for this article. I was not impressed.
The stowaways were not tossed overboard, they were put on a raft.
I am quite surprised to read all the praise for this article. I was not impressed.
4
actually, the article takes pains to outline and give examples of how countries / ports of call put ships in impossible situations ($50,000 per person for repatriation, four blocked attempts by one ship to drop off stowaways in four different countries...) making these countries (all of us, really) complicit in the abuse and deaths of stowaways. The article reveals the tangled webs of desperate circumstances, desperate people, useless laws and fruitless investigations -exploited by the wealthy and at the service of putting canned tuna fish in our cupboards while at the same destroying the source of that tuna. It's part of a trend to reveal the underbelly of the "developed" world that depends on human and environmental exploitation to maintain its throw away lifestyle. This article is about all of us. I don't think the title of the article does justice to its content.
7
How can I go to work with an organization that is trying to solve these problems? This Dickens-at-sea culture must stop. Perhaps 150 years from now people will read of these nightmares and think it was fiction, not believing that civilized peoples would tolerate this inhumane behavior.
11
i love the digital presentation of this article. NYT in the vanguard.
8
NYT has provided some incredibly rare reporting here. tremendous , easy to understand article. thanks.
9
Throwing people overboard in a raft? That's what the Russian navy did/does to pirates they captured off of Somalia. Strip them of their guns and knives and toss them into a rubber lift raft in the middle of the Indian Ocean. No food, no water.
Sounds justified to me. I would do the same thing. The stowaways are almost always illegal immigrants and must be stopped. I guess that you believe they should have been fed, clothed, quartered, and then delivered to their country of choice? That would only encourage the rest.
3
I'm glad you're not my mom. If you don't see the connections between exploited labor, exploited environment and the "developed" world's lifestyle and economy, you missed the point of the article entirely. While I have no illusions that illegal immigrants are angels, aren't you lucky not to have been born into a family belonging to the "rest."
9
Excellent piece. The world is doomed, the rich and powerful truly seem to get away with not only murder but everything else. Show me a billionaire and I will show you a thief.
8
This is the come up of two great Revolutions the Computer Revolution and the Transportation Revolution. By a click of a mouse, goods can be on their way from a remote corner of China to a megaport, stored in a standardized trailer that will be unloaded at a WalMart in Kansas, by way of an enourmous, never-ceasing stream of over 45,000 ships. Because of these revolutions, the cost of tranportation is essentially zero.
Result? Unfettered capitaism, seeking nothing but profit, has despoiled the seas and emptyed the fisheries, and Americans, blinking, look around and wonder where all the factories went. This keeps up, a lot more of us will be living under a bridge.
Result? Unfettered capitaism, seeking nothing but profit, has despoiled the seas and emptyed the fisheries, and Americans, blinking, look around and wonder where all the factories went. This keeps up, a lot more of us will be living under a bridge.
9
What a tragedy - and the owner lives in luxury.
"The many men so beautiful, and they all dead do lie
"And a thousand thousand slimy things live on,
"And so do I"
No ancient mariner the owner of this ship, but certainly one of the "slimy things". Too bad the world can't just commandeer all his assets.
"The many men so beautiful, and they all dead do lie
"And a thousand thousand slimy things live on,
"And so do I"
No ancient mariner the owner of this ship, but certainly one of the "slimy things". Too bad the world can't just commandeer all his assets.
8
First: This article is one of the main reasons I read the NY Times. Excellent article in an excellent format.
Second: This is a multifaceted issue of economics, international law, and human morality. A working solution is very hard to perceive and it's a lower priority issue in comparison to obtaining peace on land. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't work towards a better means of justice for all.
Third: What if the U.N. posted marines on the ships like the British did in the tall ship era? Marines not employed on the "H.M.S. Bounty" was one of the main reasons there was a mutiny. Perhaps marines could act like the air marshals on airlines today.
Second: This is a multifaceted issue of economics, international law, and human morality. A working solution is very hard to perceive and it's a lower priority issue in comparison to obtaining peace on land. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't work towards a better means of justice for all.
Third: What if the U.N. posted marines on the ships like the British did in the tall ship era? Marines not employed on the "H.M.S. Bounty" was one of the main reasons there was a mutiny. Perhaps marines could act like the air marshals on airlines today.
9
Ships like these fly flags of convenience and go to ports that will welcome them. you notice that this ships route is mostly in africa, where corruption is rampant. this ship would never dock in the US because the coast guard, first off, would never let them even come near without boarding and condemning the ship, then holding the ship indefinitely until they decide what they want to do with it. the USCG is the most anal port authority in the world. they protect the USA, it is not their job to protect Africans, Russians, or Filipinos; but if a foreign flag ship tries to enter USA waters and they are not up to code, good luck. might as well write it off as a total loss.
most foreign flag ships are more than meet USCG regulations. They want to make money, meaning they want to do business with the USA, meaning they will ensure their ships are golden to the Coast Guard. Maersk is the largest shipping company in the world, they have their own ports and docks in every major shipping city. They fly foreign flag because they don't need or want to pay what USA fair wages and because they won't meet the rules the coast guard lays out for USA flagged ships.
If a ship doesn't do business along the USA coast, but instead makes trips from foreign countries to the usa, they do not need to be US flagged. They are still subject to the port authority of the US while in our waters though.
Ships like the one you read about here are common in ports without port authority like the USCG.
most foreign flag ships are more than meet USCG regulations. They want to make money, meaning they want to do business with the USA, meaning they will ensure their ships are golden to the Coast Guard. Maersk is the largest shipping company in the world, they have their own ports and docks in every major shipping city. They fly foreign flag because they don't need or want to pay what USA fair wages and because they won't meet the rules the coast guard lays out for USA flagged ships.
If a ship doesn't do business along the USA coast, but instead makes trips from foreign countries to the usa, they do not need to be US flagged. They are still subject to the port authority of the US while in our waters though.
Ships like the one you read about here are common in ports without port authority like the USCG.
11
Awesome story, first of a series. When I was trying environmental whistleblower cases, we once established evidence pervasive violations of pollution laws by a shipping company owned by a labor union. Client's testimony was that "nighttime" was when oil pollution occurred. When ship captain testified and asked me sua sponte if I thought he would ever pollute in "broad daylight," I responded, no, you did it at night. :)
5
Does any one remember that Jackie Kennedy, the wife of our former Present Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis, who was among the magnets of the shipping industry?
2
Some here have opined that the US should take the lead in stopping this lawlessness and abuse on the high seas. This administration does not have the will nor the apparent ability to stop the lawlessness, smuggling and wholesale abuse of people being brought across the Southern border and that is local.
6
Unfettered capitalism at work.
4
The "Death Ship" by B. Traven is the story of an American Sailor whose difficulties begin when his ship sails away with his identification documents, leaving him stranded in Antwerp, Belgium. He is then chased away successively by different countries as one country after another passes the buck to eliminate a problem in the form on an unwanted, "stateless" person. His visit to the American Consulate to obtain replacement papers ends in failure when the consul challenges him to prove that "he is his consul".
Eventually the sailor, Gerard Gales, weighed down by hopelessness, ends up on the "Eureka" enticed by the prospect of a job even though he recognizes it as "a Death Ship" - a wasted, perilous "pail" that will be sunk by its owners to collect the insurance.
Gales is put to work as a coal shoveling coal (a dirty, difficult and dangerous job)- suffering through inhuman conditions, treated as a nonentity and enduring all manner of indignities.
Traven's "Eureka" is a prototype for the "Donna Liberta". Gerald Gales, the American sailor - like David George Mndolwa, the stowaway ("Because the ship is going to change my life.") - desperately seeks a place on a ship, even when it is a floating coffin.
AB
Eventually the sailor, Gerard Gales, weighed down by hopelessness, ends up on the "Eureka" enticed by the prospect of a job even though he recognizes it as "a Death Ship" - a wasted, perilous "pail" that will be sunk by its owners to collect the insurance.
Gales is put to work as a coal shoveling coal (a dirty, difficult and dangerous job)- suffering through inhuman conditions, treated as a nonentity and enduring all manner of indignities.
Traven's "Eureka" is a prototype for the "Donna Liberta". Gerald Gales, the American sailor - like David George Mndolwa, the stowaway ("Because the ship is going to change my life.") - desperately seeks a place on a ship, even when it is a floating coffin.
AB
6
This is largely fiction and an example of a very selective focus on a single bad apple in an industry populated by hundred of first class operators. Clearly the writers went for sensationalism as opposed to accuracy and fairness.
1
This article is loaded with facts. You could have chosen to refute one or more of them. You didn't do that. The word "fiction", as used by you here, is an epithet; it's NOT an argument.
1
That’s the reason I keep paying my NYT subscription: excellent reporting of BIG problems that rarely appear on others' radar. I sincerely hope that this article will elicit some response from the UN, which should put some teeth on this and related matters (like industrial fishing flees that harvest the oceans 24x7 in international waters). The fact that not even a NYT journalist was able to access the name of the Dona Liberta’s captain that tossed overboard the two stowaways, gives us an idea on the level of secrecy that enjoy this business.
6
Among the many eye opening things about this piece - including the extent to which the waters that make up the majority of our planet are essentially unregulated death traps - one that caught my attention was Greece's role in all this.
Amid the financial crisis with debts to pay, pensioners out of money and kids out of work, while the world panics and Europe questions its integrity, the leaders of Greece have yet to target the large amounts of untaxed revenue coming from the shipping industry.
Why doesn't the government go after the owners of these boats, if they're living and operating in plain view (everyone knows the ship owner covered in this story lives behind those 15 foot walls)?
To avoid the crippling austerity Greece knows too well, it may do well to stop granting favorable treatment to the shipping families and start implicating them along with the rest of the population in paying back what they owe.
I wonder how that referendum would turn out….
Amid the financial crisis with debts to pay, pensioners out of money and kids out of work, while the world panics and Europe questions its integrity, the leaders of Greece have yet to target the large amounts of untaxed revenue coming from the shipping industry.
Why doesn't the government go after the owners of these boats, if they're living and operating in plain view (everyone knows the ship owner covered in this story lives behind those 15 foot walls)?
To avoid the crippling austerity Greece knows too well, it may do well to stop granting favorable treatment to the shipping families and start implicating them along with the rest of the population in paying back what they owe.
I wonder how that referendum would turn out….
5
Christ told us that the evil one is the ruler of this world. Pray for God's will to be done, and defeat all evil, like these horrific crimes.
2
This incredible article is one of the best cases for privatization that I have ever come across.
1
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but if not, Privatize what exactly? These ships are run by private companies, this is privatization at its worst.
Fascinating piece. Thanks NYT.
5
Jury-rigged = jerry-rigged?
Although there is probably lots of jury-rigging as well.
Although there is probably lots of jury-rigging as well.
"Jury-rig" is to do a quick, short-term job (as in, a jury sits for just a short time). "Jerry-rig" is to do a better, long lasting job as a jerry (a term for a journeyman, skilled worker) would do.
And in Today's News: Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group
"But before the fun could begin, Obama attended a big-bucks fund-raiser Friday night for the Democratic National Committee, hosted by supporters George and Nitzia Logothetis, that was slated to bring in $1 million.
George Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group, a company involved in shipping, hotels and other ventures. About 30 supporters were contributing $33,400 each to attend, according to a DNC official. The event was closed to the press."
"But before the fun could begin, Obama attended a big-bucks fund-raiser Friday night for the Democratic National Committee, hosted by supporters George and Nitzia Logothetis, that was slated to bring in $1 million.
George Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group, a company involved in shipping, hotels and other ventures. About 30 supporters were contributing $33,400 each to attend, according to a DNC official. The event was closed to the press."
9
I don't think you can necessarily fault Obama or the democrats but someone certainly should look into the Logothetis family's Libra Group, but then, if you read Picketty's book on Capitalism in the 21st century you come to realize a whole lot of billionaires creaming off the world's resources deserve to be looked into and taxed more heavily. These rogue shipping companies are only the tip of the iceberg.
And who takes advantage of lax laws and oversight by registering their vessels under "Flags of Convenience", our large oil companies. Check out the flags of Exon, Chevron, Shell, BP, etc, supertankers and you will find Liberia, Bahamas, Panama,Vanuatu, etc.
7
Excellent article, horrible story, great comments. An aspect of this story is the earth's overpopulation explosion, and unemployment explosion. The earth had under a billion people for 2-5 million years. We reached one billion in the early 1800's. Two billion by the end of World War II. Now, in the next 70 years, we have jumped from two to seven billion. If we do not address this unsustainable population growth, mother nature will.
12
A local meteorologist, Cliff Mass, publishes a very interesting blog. Last week he uploaded a satellite map of cloud formations one of which was identified as lines of ship exhaust in the mid-Pacific. As distinct as the stratus clouds in the area further east. Unbelievable.
6
Thanks for the article, As a former seaman/seaman, due to regulations and ongoing upgradings of certificates on both vessels and crew it is not so easy to operate a vessel at all if you wish to follow the rules. Maybe i I could sign on a ship like that. Remember however we had a stowaway departing St. Cruz port of Tenerife we were bound for W. Africa/Gambia river, but at least he was a ordinary seaman. He wanted to go back to Africa now it`s the other way around.
Of course we didn`t throw him overboard and I don`t think anyone I ever worked with would do that. But there is examples one Norwegian ship couldn`t go in to any Europian port for months because of the stowaways they had onboard. I think we can provide better than that.
Of course we didn`t throw him overboard and I don`t think anyone I ever worked with would do that. But there is examples one Norwegian ship couldn`t go in to any Europian port for months because of the stowaways they had onboard. I think we can provide better than that.
6
Another thing, if I was stranded on a ship in port with no pay and no food, I would open a new subsidiary company for Mr. Kallimasias, called Midnight Ship Chandlers. We would sell paint, mooring lines, gyros, lathes, pumps, motors, and other sundry ship's parts and supplies.
6
Once again, we are shown what it takes to attain unfathomable levels of wealth: a complete disregard for human life, law and the environment.
40
NYT's "Though small, Greece is a superpower in the maritime world, with many shipping lines and a disproportionate number of the wealthiest shipowners. Nearly half of the best known shipping families hail from Chios" And in Today's News
"Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group"
"But before the fun could begin, Obama attended a big-bucks fund-raiser Friday night for the Democratic National Committee, hosted by supporters George and Nitzia Logothetis, that was slated to bring in $1 million.
George Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group, a company involved in shipping, hotels and other ventures. About 30 supporters were contributing $33,400 each to attend, according to a DNC official. The event was closed to the press."
"Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group"
"But before the fun could begin, Obama attended a big-bucks fund-raiser Friday night for the Democratic National Committee, hosted by supporters George and Nitzia Logothetis, that was slated to bring in $1 million.
George Logothetis is a shipping heir and chairman of Libra Group, a company involved in shipping, hotels and other ventures. About 30 supporters were contributing $33,400 each to attend, according to a DNC official. The event was closed to the press."
2
Wonderful piece. Reporting like this is what keeps me paying for NYT despite its predictable political drivel.
18
Since the USA has taken the role of the British Empire in so many places it is up to the US to enforce the Law of the Sea. Seizure of cargo could help defray costs. We need something like a British Navy again, not that they were perfect but they provided some kind of enforcement regime in the 19th century.
4
After reading this article I wish people like 'Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez', the shooter in Chattanooga, Tennessee who killed 5 Marines and was killed himself as well could realize that there are hundreds of millions of unfortunate people around the world who are living in desperate conditions. So desperate that they are willing to risk their lives, and many thousands have lost just this year, just to get to a place like Europe or US where they can have a better life. And yet he had all that and he chose to kill 5 other fellow humans for nothing and wasted his as well, instead of using it to make someone elses life better.
21
Envy--not as admiration but as in "green-with-envy" is a terrible affliction--the aversion to good for others. It's the flip side of hatred--the desire for others' harm.
It doesn't discriminate between rich and poor. For some becoming better off doesn't stop it--as long as others are even better off. It's not a mere vice, but a mental disorder.
On the other hand for some working their way up the ladder is beneath them--they buy lottery tickets instead. Stowing away is a kind of lottery ticket.
Put the two together. If they win the stowaway lottery, landing in a civilized place, envy makes them domestic terrorists.
It doesn't discriminate between rich and poor. For some becoming better off doesn't stop it--as long as others are even better off. It's not a mere vice, but a mental disorder.
On the other hand for some working their way up the ladder is beneath them--they buy lottery tickets instead. Stowing away is a kind of lottery ticket.
Put the two together. If they win the stowaway lottery, landing in a civilized place, envy makes them domestic terrorists.
Of course, we're too busy sable rattling on the high seas (U.S.,China, Russia etc) than to organize a concerted effort in hammering out and enforcing Maritime rules of law.
5
Magnificent piece of reporting and why we love the times. Now let's see if anyone has the balls to act on it.
21
A fantastic article and reminded me of a novel 'The Ordinary Seaman' by Francisco Goldman - based on a true story that I believe was reported by the NYTimes years ago, of 17 Latin-American sailors, abandoned by their ship's authorities, who lived for months in a rat-infested, unheated hull on the Brooklyn waterfront.
As for can anything be done how about getting rid of 'flags of convenience' to start so each country has to take responsibility. However, I doubt that will fly as even Governments have been known to use the loopholes afforded by a flag of convenience to evade national and international laws.
As for can anything be done how about getting rid of 'flags of convenience' to start so each country has to take responsibility. However, I doubt that will fly as even Governments have been known to use the loopholes afforded by a flag of convenience to evade national and international laws.
10
What a combination of investigative journalism and beautiful story telling! This is why I pay for the NY Times! Thank you for this.
In regards to the issue it seems some international organization needs to be setup, perhaps under United Nations or something? We pay taxes in US to insure our roads are safe. Any nation that sells a flag to ships should pay a portion for an international monitoring & policing organization. It would have to have some teeth though, ability to detain and try individuals. This all of course would be a huge undertaking and very difficult to implement. But do we do things just because they're easy or because they are needed?
In regards to the issue it seems some international organization needs to be setup, perhaps under United Nations or something? We pay taxes in US to insure our roads are safe. Any nation that sells a flag to ships should pay a portion for an international monitoring & policing organization. It would have to have some teeth though, ability to detain and try individuals. This all of course would be a huge undertaking and very difficult to implement. But do we do things just because they're easy or because they are needed?
15
Few people get to experience the navigational highways of the ocean and our coastal waterways. By day, they paint a pretty picture of water, sails, sky, or maybe industrial, cloudy gray and rust. At night when the pleasure craft are gone, it's a different world. A beautiful and serene loneliness, slow, dark, quiet, except for the flashing red and green lights of navigation, so important to abide by, or of civilization: that crazy world any sailor will escape, but providing comfort at a distance.
6
Thanks for this engaging piece. It was superbly written and the video pieces contribute so much atmosphere. Kudos to the whole team. The camera op got some great shots as well.
13
This was a very interesting story. I read the NYT every day, but I have motion sickness and find that videos that are in constant motion on the front page make it extremely unpleasant to look at the paper online. Any chance you could save the motion-graphics for further down an individual story, instead of on the front page?
6
Exactly my reaction. Great journalism. Give at least several hundred thousand people motion sickness as soon as the look at the virtual first page.
2
The motion of the waves is meant to highlight the importance of the article, and it needs to be top, front and center to grab the attention it deserves.
If you're reading any of the articles from the front page, you've likely clicked away from the front page anyway ... if you're scanning the front page, stick a post-it note over the picture. That's an easy fix that doesn't deprive the rest of us the multimedia experience!
If you're reading any of the articles from the front page, you've likely clicked away from the front page anyway ... if you're scanning the front page, stick a post-it note over the picture. That's an easy fix that doesn't deprive the rest of us the multimedia experience!
3
I think they are great.
it only seems like nothing is watching. The Ocean is the Heart of the World
3
This is amazing and quite informative especially the survivors account which is horrible and heartbreaking, were humans are wicked and cruel to each other. It takes me back to the time i embarked on a perilous journey through the Sahara desert to Europe via Libya in search for greener pasture. I saw death face to face,we hugged and dinned together but death could not arrest me( 91 days in the Sahara desert without food and water only to meet rebels and ruthless traffickers ready to suck your blood). I can now imagine the helpless situation this people will find themselves at the middle of the sea. One can not help but sympathize deeply for the illegal migrants whom are subjected to all form of abuses. Yes more needs to be done to combat this problems which includes respect for human life,review sea rules,as well as review of port regulations and then the coastal guards should be enhanced to be more proactive.
13
You need to tell your own story of migration through the desert someplace. Someone in the NYT up to reporting her story? Living against all odds--against nature and humans. How can you survive in the desert for 3 months without water and food, or without very little of either? And the ruthless encounters with humans...
Crimes on the High Seas are local but interconnected. Note MISCELLANEOUS FIREARMS
UNITED STATES Plaintiff
v
VESSEL CROSSWINDS OFFICIAL NO. US/509278 miscellaneous firearms Defendant
US District Court Virginia
J Metcalfe Asst US Atty Norfolk Va D Browning Counsel U S Customs Baltimore for plaintiff
Wayne Sprinkle for Kevin Fister
OPINION ORDER
CLARKE District Judge
Before the Court
Facts not in dispute U S Customs Officers conducted border search of CROSSWINDS During search customs officers discovered 887 pounds hashish Vessel seized, crew members arrested
United States filed for forfeiture of CROSSWINDS w/ equipment pursuant to 19 USC § 1595a 21 USC § 881 49 USC § 782 Fister filed claim stating he owns items seized on CROSSWINDS Miscellaneous FIREARMS Hunting knives Government moved for summary judgment subject to forfeiture 19 USC § 1595a(a) Fister argues section 1595a(a) not encompass Miscellaneous Firearms.
Section 1595a(a) provides
[E]very vessel seized forfeited together w/ equipment
*751 Government contends case law defines "equipment"
portable articles necessary for navigation of vessel arms and munitions
26 Treas. Dec. 34150, at 184 (1914)
Otte v United States 7 Ct Cust App 166 167-69 (1916) court defined equipment as any portable thing Queen's Regulations Admiralty definition: Equipment includes arms munitions or any other thing used adapting her for naval service
The Government argues that the disputed items are subject to forfeiture
UNITED STATES Plaintiff
v
VESSEL CROSSWINDS OFFICIAL NO. US/509278 miscellaneous firearms Defendant
US District Court Virginia
J Metcalfe Asst US Atty Norfolk Va D Browning Counsel U S Customs Baltimore for plaintiff
Wayne Sprinkle for Kevin Fister
OPINION ORDER
CLARKE District Judge
Before the Court
Facts not in dispute U S Customs Officers conducted border search of CROSSWINDS During search customs officers discovered 887 pounds hashish Vessel seized, crew members arrested
United States filed for forfeiture of CROSSWINDS w/ equipment pursuant to 19 USC § 1595a 21 USC § 881 49 USC § 782 Fister filed claim stating he owns items seized on CROSSWINDS Miscellaneous FIREARMS Hunting knives Government moved for summary judgment subject to forfeiture 19 USC § 1595a(a) Fister argues section 1595a(a) not encompass Miscellaneous Firearms.
Section 1595a(a) provides
[E]very vessel seized forfeited together w/ equipment
*751 Government contends case law defines "equipment"
portable articles necessary for navigation of vessel arms and munitions
26 Treas. Dec. 34150, at 184 (1914)
Otte v United States 7 Ct Cust App 166 167-69 (1916) court defined equipment as any portable thing Queen's Regulations Admiralty definition: Equipment includes arms munitions or any other thing used adapting her for naval service
The Government argues that the disputed items are subject to forfeiture
5
Riveting piece of reporting. Tragic circumstances. This is what happens - across life's spectrum - when there are no accountability standards. Systemic breakdown. Formidable. Avoidable. Reparable.
11
This article makes the best use of quotes that I've seen in a long long time. Downright Marquezish.
2
Astounding piece and presentation.... A Greek Shipping magnate and his big yacht: This could have been a simple account of corruption at the highest places leading to a country's economic demise. But the story's power comes from the dreamer , the stowaway who longs to be free. How many Mndolwas are out there? How vast is the sea?
21
Absolutely terrific reporting. Top notch!
Not to be too flip but also reminds me why I really don't like boats. It's rather terrifying to contemplate how the already thin veneer of civilization seemingly can slip away completely right out of the port.
Not to be too flip but also reminds me why I really don't like boats. It's rather terrifying to contemplate how the already thin veneer of civilization seemingly can slip away completely right out of the port.
12
Could the UN compel flag states to enforce its rules. If the flag state is found incapable of enforcing the rules then the ship must be flagged under a country that can enforce the rules. That pretty much put Mongolia out of the ship flagging business but also make it worth it to flag ships under countries that follow the rules and treat their crews ethically. It would raise the cost of shipping and as a side-benefit could make domestic manufacturing more cost effective.
7
Regrettably, international policing and enforcement, by a new arm of the UN or some international consortium, will not happen.
While plenty of lip service will be paid to cleaning up shipping practices, no nation, including the US, will find the money to do.
While plenty of lip service will be paid to cleaning up shipping practices, no nation, including the US, will find the money to do.
2
More incredible than the cruelty and abuse of the ship's crew is the fierce and yet gentle hope that the stowaways embrace. The videos at sea, with the survivor's soft voice recounting his trials, adds depth to the article and reminds the reader that there are several stories here: the desperation of the stowaways, the illegal activities of the shipping companies, and the cruelty of the crew.
10
This problem can be solved. The answer lies in the ports. Deny port entry to any ship flying a flag of any country that does not clean up the ships flying under its flag. Force every country that registers a ship to have the ship's owner post a bond accessible for damages or denied wages. Do not allow any ship posting a new registration to port unless the registration is checked. Require any port of such a ship to hold the cargo until records are cleared. No port should allow any ship to take on cargo unless its record is clean without posting a bond.
90
Board every ship, miles from the port. That's what happens in the Chesapeake Bay. You can see the ships waiting, south of the Bay Bridge. As for Illegal immigrants from Africa, and elsewhere, perhaps the G7 can blockade the usual ports. I imagine that would be cheaper than letting them land in Europe.
6
Great! But there's a catch: how do you get countries that internally behave very much like those ships, and that dominate the equality-based international institutions, to cooperate on your excellent program?
4
Good luck!
I wonder how much of today's Greek economic problems are a result of, what appears to be, a small minority (the 1%?) of rich shipping magnets acquiring loans of millions of dollars and not repaying them while the majority of the country flails about trying to stay afloat in a sea of debt & mismanagement? I sense a few lessons here.
13
"I wonder how much of today's Greek economic problems are a result of, what appears to be, a small minority (the 1%?)..."
Wall Street and the White House caused the Great Recession of 2008, and yet no one in either place lost anything; both bankers and politicians came out smelling like roses. That's THE lesson.
Wall Street and the White House caused the Great Recession of 2008, and yet no one in either place lost anything; both bankers and politicians came out smelling like roses. That's THE lesson.
4
As with our Koch brothers, the bad actor here has more funds and avenues of egress than the King's TaxCollector.
No.
There are three major ( among many) elements to this horror show.
A: Overpopulation- the US misguided program of not funding international family planning and abortion services tied to our foreign policy. The Catholic Churches continuing refusal, even when faced with the the wretched conditions of poor women in Ecuador to advance the same ( no thanks to the not so saintly Pope Francis).
B:Letting the criminal wealthy Greeks off the taxation hook while their country crumbles and Europe continues to bail them out.
C:Not allowing ships with dicey, illegal or unenforceable registries into American ports ( or for that matter into the ports of wealthier nations of Europe). If these countries alone had a program of enforcing this- It might be a powerful mitigating factor.
There are three major ( among many) elements to this horror show.
A: Overpopulation- the US misguided program of not funding international family planning and abortion services tied to our foreign policy. The Catholic Churches continuing refusal, even when faced with the the wretched conditions of poor women in Ecuador to advance the same ( no thanks to the not so saintly Pope Francis).
B:Letting the criminal wealthy Greeks off the taxation hook while their country crumbles and Europe continues to bail them out.
C:Not allowing ships with dicey, illegal or unenforceable registries into American ports ( or for that matter into the ports of wealthier nations of Europe). If these countries alone had a program of enforcing this- It might be a powerful mitigating factor.
20
Great investigative reporting! Indeed, truth is often more amazing than fiction. And thus my digital "subscription" to NY Times remains more justifiably justified. A few years ago, I didn't think, given the "free" nature of the internet, I'd ever "pay" to read online sources but the Times is well worth it.
Back to the topic. One can't help feel a very deep sympathy for not only the illegal migrants but also to the staff of various cargo ships. The only viable solution to the illegal migrant problem is to "share the wealth" in the world. No more wars! The strife in Libya, Syria and Iraq alone have caused big movements of illegal migrants.
Back to the topic. One can't help feel a very deep sympathy for not only the illegal migrants but also to the staff of various cargo ships. The only viable solution to the illegal migrant problem is to "share the wealth" in the world. No more wars! The strife in Libya, Syria and Iraq alone have caused big movements of illegal migrants.
11
To Matt Serio:
This is what Sen McCain is fighting, the absurd Jones Act;
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/18/nj-winter-rock-salt...
Under Jones Act, foreign ships can't stop succesivley in 2 US ports: like, Maine and then NJ, or NY and then Baltimore. It drastically increases use os 16 wheeler traffic on our highways, and further adds to air pollution. It was meant to protect US ship builders, and US maritime workers. It increases the cost of goods, and t is obsolete in today's world economy.
This is what Sen McCain is fighting, the absurd Jones Act;
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/18/nj-winter-rock-salt...
Under Jones Act, foreign ships can't stop succesivley in 2 US ports: like, Maine and then NJ, or NY and then Baltimore. It drastically increases use os 16 wheeler traffic on our highways, and further adds to air pollution. It was meant to protect US ship builders, and US maritime workers. It increases the cost of goods, and t is obsolete in today's world economy.
9
Foreign flag ship can and do call multiple US ports all the time to load and discharge cargo. What they can't do is transport cargo or passengers between US ports. It would be like letting Mexican or Bolivian truck drivers, operating under Mexican laws, permission to drive trucks and transport cargo or passenger busses between NY and Boston. A great way to save cost and out source American jobs!
1
It's immoral to toss stowaways overboard perhaps to their deaths; it is also incredibly dumb to stow yourself away on a ship, knowing as these men did what could happen to them, without learning to swim first.
1
Hello
There is something of the beauty of massive incongruity here. Some person prepared to risk his life in so many ways diverts time and resources to swimming lessons at the Y. Remember the big ship is miles at sea when these things happen.
I love it.
There is something of the beauty of massive incongruity here. Some person prepared to risk his life in so many ways diverts time and resources to swimming lessons at the Y. Remember the big ship is miles at sea when these things happen.
I love it.
2
Spoken from a position of such extreme privilege that you can't identify with the extreme poverty suffered by so many of the world's desperate people. Some live in such desperate situations that hiding out on a ship to escape them might actually be preferable to staying put, and learning to swim is the least of many people's worries. Have you ever tried to swim on the high seas? Nearly impossible ... it's not like swimming in your fancy swimming pool atop your condo in NYC.
Very well reported. The account of the survivor stowaway is heartrending and makes you wonder how inhumane and cruel can people be towards another human being, especially helpless on the high seas.
It's even more disconcerting that a handful of countries and island nations sell their flags for a pittance, and the world's maritime bureaucracy, poorly administering what are inconsistent and contradictory laws, wring their official hands in pleading helplessness. To the unscrupulous owners of many such Dona Libertas, might one ask: "Do you comprehend how bloody your hands are that even the vast seas would turn red if you try to wash them?" But, of course, they have no conscience and no compassion.
It's even more disconcerting that a handful of countries and island nations sell their flags for a pittance, and the world's maritime bureaucracy, poorly administering what are inconsistent and contradictory laws, wring their official hands in pleading helplessness. To the unscrupulous owners of many such Dona Libertas, might one ask: "Do you comprehend how bloody your hands are that even the vast seas would turn red if you try to wash them?" But, of course, they have no conscience and no compassion.
10
It sounds nightmarishly, given the fact that we are talking about what is happening right now, in a civilized 21st century, while this is a problem for decades and can not be solved for a long time. Because no one wants to deal with the search for its solution, it is not interesting to anyone.
2
This is the funny Part (Not really) when someone inevitably says "Not in our Civilized times". Really? Why do People say this?
Read this Story. Look at Ukraine. Israel & Palestine. Most of Africa. On & On.
The only thing different is the date on the Calendar. But then Man has only been around for a short time. Mankind collectively thinks "Oh ,We are different" "We are not just another animal on the Planet that can Disappear. Oh,No ,Not Us"
The way we are going - we may not Survive long enough to evolve out of our present Ignorant State.
Read this Story. Look at Ukraine. Israel & Palestine. Most of Africa. On & On.
The only thing different is the date on the Calendar. But then Man has only been around for a short time. Mankind collectively thinks "Oh ,We are different" "We are not just another animal on the Planet that can Disappear. Oh,No ,Not Us"
The way we are going - we may not Survive long enough to evolve out of our present Ignorant State.
3
wonderful piece, congratulations Ian Urbina! I loved the password one, too. This is exactly why I have subscribed to nyt, and why I am happy to pay. Journalism has a price.
9
Excellent reporting, and the clips with David speaking about his raft while panning the water, one begins to imagine the horror of being on that raft in the open ocean.
The deaths, the slavery, the scofflaws, the environmental damage-- where are we vis a vis TPP on addressing these known problems?
Why can't we team up with the Brits and others (including UN & enviro groups) to fix this? Use some of the Defense budget's billions as a carve-out for it and get this going. It's our planet, our shared oceans. This is a catastrophe.
Amazing, eye-opening, tragic piece. I hope something comes of it.
The deaths, the slavery, the scofflaws, the environmental damage-- where are we vis a vis TPP on addressing these known problems?
Why can't we team up with the Brits and others (including UN & enviro groups) to fix this? Use some of the Defense budget's billions as a carve-out for it and get this going. It's our planet, our shared oceans. This is a catastrophe.
Amazing, eye-opening, tragic piece. I hope something comes of it.
14
Great story... I am a new subscriber to the NYT and pieces like this are why!
The comment suggesting a "UN Coast Guard" sounds like a good idea to me, but the overriding thought that came up in my head while reading this article was how the behavior by the Dona Liberta's owner and crew is jist a hidden cost of our current economical system where advantages are always looked for and a large unenforceable lawless area is a huge advantage. Like they say in Indonesia: "Ada gula, ada semut." (Where there's sugar, there's ants.)
The comment suggesting a "UN Coast Guard" sounds like a good idea to me, but the overriding thought that came up in my head while reading this article was how the behavior by the Dona Liberta's owner and crew is jist a hidden cost of our current economical system where advantages are always looked for and a large unenforceable lawless area is a huge advantage. Like they say in Indonesia: "Ada gula, ada semut." (Where there's sugar, there's ants.)
6
So that's what Pulitzer-winning journalism looks like. Awesome job to all those who worked on this story.
45
Absolutely stellar journalism. Well reported and well-written. Moved and informed here. Thanks!
15
Bravo! Superb reporting on an important but little-recognized topic, delivered with splendid writing: well argued, well structured, and vividly told without theatrics. To say a story like this deserves a Pulitzer is certainly true, but beside the point. It speaks passionately and eloquently for all the terribly oppressed souls abused by the sea, by lax maritime laws, and by corrupt, indifferent owners. May it steer the U.N. and our own state department to take up better ship regulation with all seafaring nations, and effect the needed changes.
16
Really great piece. I don't know the right word but I really like the almost 3D-ish map with the perspective centered over southwest Africa and some of the places the ship traveled appearing further away. This helped me better understand the region and the ship's routes better than a flat, 1D map would.
Also, Mr. Mndolwa is a fascinating subject. The contrast between his ambition and hunger for a better life, vs the poverty in which he lives, is really compelling. More on him, please.
Also, Mr. Mndolwa is a fascinating subject. The contrast between his ambition and hunger for a better life, vs the poverty in which he lives, is really compelling. More on him, please.
4
I think sailors are very brave people. I have a degree in marine engineer, but work in another profession, I always wanted to go to sea and enjoy the romance of sunrises and sunsets, but life turned out differently. Work at sea is associated with certain risks, so you must make sure the mariners have good insurance conditions and the latest in marine equipment, and then productivity will increase and people will be working in more comfortable conditions.
6
In the absence of a regulatory body is there a free market solution here?
If creditors have a legal claim against the debtor and a legal right to seize the ship, I wonder if there could be profit in a bounty hunter system where semi-legalized pirates commandeer noncompliant ships and return them to ports that will enforce the creditor's rights.
Similarly, certain progressive-minded ports might seize a ship for environmental and union labor law violations.
It would be cool to let that craziness play out until shippers are begging for a regulatory body to protect them from sanctioned piracy on the high seas.
If creditors have a legal claim against the debtor and a legal right to seize the ship, I wonder if there could be profit in a bounty hunter system where semi-legalized pirates commandeer noncompliant ships and return them to ports that will enforce the creditor's rights.
Similarly, certain progressive-minded ports might seize a ship for environmental and union labor law violations.
It would be cool to let that craziness play out until shippers are begging for a regulatory body to protect them from sanctioned piracy on the high seas.
5
@AMR: Hmm.... Privateers. Interesting idea!
Great journalism! Who knew? I didn't. So thanks for introducing me to some remarkable people and telling me more of what I need to know --- what is going on in this world.
7
Beautiful presentation. Why don't I feel sorry for those people? Could it be that they put themselves in those positions and that the ship operators owe them nothing?
2
How can you not feel for people who live in such extreme poverty and who will do anything to escape it? You would probably do the same were you in their shoes. How about the people just up the road from you, picking tomatoes, who are virtual slaves to their "employers"? Have you no compassion for them? Look around ... not everyone can sit under an umbrella at the beach sipping margaritas all day ...
Thousands, even millions of regulations mean nothing without enforcement.... Is this any different then our own immigration disaster...
3
Man's inhumanity to man... and don't kid yourself that similar stuff doesn't happen here.
I had an NYC bus driver threaten to have me arrest -- a 70 year old woman for boarding the M60 at 116th and B'Way and taking it to the terminus at 106th. I have watched many bus drivers treat would be passengers harshly on the topic of "fare beaters." (Tourists who haven't bought a metro card-- BTW not so easy to get-- in Italy you can buy them at the local Tabac-- but we don't have those -- should be available at Duane Reade and ALL NYC hotels.. not just in subway stations!! In inclement weather IMO bus drivers should have to take on ANYONE -- w or w/o fare... but there's always some jerk who thinks that it's really impt to collect that fare. (It's really impt to make sure the rich pay their tazes-- but our current policy is NO special taxes for the super rich.) Infuriating.. (and why don't buses take 1$ bills??)
I had an NYC bus driver threaten to have me arrest -- a 70 year old woman for boarding the M60 at 116th and B'Way and taking it to the terminus at 106th. I have watched many bus drivers treat would be passengers harshly on the topic of "fare beaters." (Tourists who haven't bought a metro card-- BTW not so easy to get-- in Italy you can buy them at the local Tabac-- but we don't have those -- should be available at Duane Reade and ALL NYC hotels.. not just in subway stations!! In inclement weather IMO bus drivers should have to take on ANYONE -- w or w/o fare... but there's always some jerk who thinks that it's really impt to collect that fare. (It's really impt to make sure the rich pay their tazes-- but our current policy is NO special taxes for the super rich.) Infuriating.. (and why don't buses take 1$ bills??)
6
Daily, I feel grateful for the good fortune of having been born in the United States, while simultaneously feeling sad for those who start their lives in such harsh and horrible circumstances.
12
Many people in the U.S. start their lives in similar harsh and horrible circumstances ... ever been to an Indian reservation?
Journalism. An actual story, seriously reported. I’ll drink to that.
26
What a compelling and beautifully constructed piece of journalism. Thank you for bringing this world to life with such humane detail and insightful context. This is why I love and read the New York Times despite having moved abroad almost 5 years ago...
20
This piece is a fascinating combination of text and video. Thanks for an informative and moving article.
12
"Few places on earth are as free from legal oversight as the high seas. One ship has been among the most persistent offenders."
Bank and bankers seem to be mostly free from any effective legal oversight. Banks and bankers have been among THE most persistent offenders.
Bank and bankers seem to be mostly free from any effective legal oversight. Banks and bankers have been among THE most persistent offenders.
22
I agree, let some hard-working soul fall short of a house or car payment and the banks miraculously appear and confiscate house & car. The working stiff is a soft-target, unlike billionaire shipping magnets - cowardly banks know this.
1
While we are worried about the sea, Africa, trade routes, pollution, stowaways, scofflaws, dishonest captains, owners, regulators.... how about farming, how about China's pollution, antibiotic everywhere, government enabling, cover up, frightened journalists... and worse, an indifferent public that has all but given up.
What has happened to outrage? Little boys dying in the wheel storage areas, smuggled children ending up in pressurized holds with dogs, children crossing bridges to gain entry to the USA in Texas, wicker baskets with drugs floating westward toward the lee short of Barbados, placed in the water by huge boats carrying contraband, with the Barbadian police geared, leading families partaking, all in plain view. Who dares to care - there?
The sea where anything goes, the airliner where almost anything goes, we must not forget the loaded airliner now long vanished west of Perth, Australia, no longer in the news....
Crime aboard is ignored, crime endemic can no longer be covered, it is becoming the norm, no longer the exception. Newspapers try then tire of selling the same old... just as body parts are sold from the fetus, and the young male across the planet rises to kill, as the young woman across the planet rises to live.
We are in a heap of trouble, sea to no longer shining sea.
What has happened to outrage? Little boys dying in the wheel storage areas, smuggled children ending up in pressurized holds with dogs, children crossing bridges to gain entry to the USA in Texas, wicker baskets with drugs floating westward toward the lee short of Barbados, placed in the water by huge boats carrying contraband, with the Barbadian police geared, leading families partaking, all in plain view. Who dares to care - there?
The sea where anything goes, the airliner where almost anything goes, we must not forget the loaded airliner now long vanished west of Perth, Australia, no longer in the news....
Crime aboard is ignored, crime endemic can no longer be covered, it is becoming the norm, no longer the exception. Newspapers try then tire of selling the same old... just as body parts are sold from the fetus, and the young male across the planet rises to kill, as the young woman across the planet rises to live.
We are in a heap of trouble, sea to no longer shining sea.
8
What? You want some form of world governance and enforceable international law? There's too much money to be made for a tiny number of thugs, warlords, and criminal entrepreneurs--as well as "the next level up;" shady corporations and "small businesses"! Forget the violations of human rights...the environmental damage...the plundering of fish stocks...we humans are just incapable of taking care of our planet, making and enforcing basic law! It's all a "Mondo Cane" and "Mad Max" scene, and as the scale of problems grows, the willingness to act and the willingness to pay both shrink.
8
What a remarkable thing that is the human heart.
"If only I get a ship."
Suffering and misery begat hope and ingenuity. Mr. Mndolwa is a living testament to the indefatigable human spirit. Juxtapose his life with that of the average spoiled Westerner. Funny thing is, only two or three hundred years ago the average Westerner was Mr. Mndolwa.
I hope he gets his ship and realizes his dreams.
But maybe not. Because then he'll just become like the average ennui-besotted Westerner with no dreams left, who complains if movies on their phone take too long to buffer.
"If only I get a ship."
Suffering and misery begat hope and ingenuity. Mr. Mndolwa is a living testament to the indefatigable human spirit. Juxtapose his life with that of the average spoiled Westerner. Funny thing is, only two or three hundred years ago the average Westerner was Mr. Mndolwa.
I hope he gets his ship and realizes his dreams.
But maybe not. Because then he'll just become like the average ennui-besotted Westerner with no dreams left, who complains if movies on their phone take too long to buffer.
6
This silly idea that thinge have been rosy in the capitalist West for a long time shows the ignorence that most people have. ..most people were still working hard for little reward right up to the 1950s
Same story different day. This story is as old as the earliest days of shipping. No coincidence that Greeks are some of the biggest players in shady practices. If you value your life,never sail on a Greek passenger ship. Take a Norwegian line....
10
First of all thank you for writing this article and shedding light on an issue that I never thought about. I am enlightened.
The way the two stowaways were dealt with in this day & age is unconscionable. Ship owners need to be held accountable since Captains of these vessels have refused to accept the morals of command.
Maritime laws to to be enhanced and until then perhaps a few ship seizures or refusing them into port will send a message.
The way the two stowaways were dealt with in this day & age is unconscionable. Ship owners need to be held accountable since Captains of these vessels have refused to accept the morals of command.
Maritime laws to to be enhanced and until then perhaps a few ship seizures or refusing them into port will send a message.
11
So the captain and all the crew are caught in this terrible bind where they will not be paid and not likely get further work if they try to act humanely, therefore incur huge fines. I guess we do live in a Dickensian world, even with our nice electronic devices to watch such moving stories.
Wow, what an intriguing story, More intriguing however is the fact that even today the living stowaway in this true tale, still retreated that he will return to sea again....hmm wonder when the grass is greener on the other side holds true with many a mind who consider this method of migrating a quest. This tells me that a lot of work need be done for young people to reconsider migrating legally as an alternate appropriate option.
15
Legal immigration is available as an alternate appropriate option?
The problem is the people with nothing to lose are not generally the ones nations want to welcome, so they are willing to risk it all even if the chances are poor. It is very sad and I do not see a remedy unless local conditions improve.
The problem is the people with nothing to lose are not generally the ones nations want to welcome, so they are willing to risk it all even if the chances are poor. It is very sad and I do not see a remedy unless local conditions improve.
2
The entire world cannot just migrate to the good spots, legally or illegally,
1
the stowaway surviving was not really that remarkable to me. they dropped the men off on a raft a few miles from the coast in a massively busy shipping lane. they did the guys a favor by not dropping them off during that 2 day journey a couple hundred miles from the coast.
it doesn't matter what they did, the captain wasn't going to pay over 100,000 dollars to drop these people off in a port. he made sure they would likely be found carried on.
it doesn't matter what they did, the captain wasn't going to pay over 100,000 dollars to drop these people off in a port. he made sure they would likely be found carried on.
The oceans are a perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. Land which is not "owned" by anyone is typically exploited until it is worthless and ruined.
The open oceans are a place where the UN could actually work. It is in all major state's interests to protect the oceans' environmental health; it is in their interests to prevent illegal immigration; etc.
The UN should have an Ocean Guard; which would be similar to Coast Guards, except for international waters. Their ships should be lightly armed (compared to the Navy); and their primary directive should be to enforce environmental, immigration, and human rights regulations on the high seas; as well help with rescues.
With satellite surveillance it is possible to keep track of virtually every large ship; if they are dumping; if they owe fines, etc.
This is something which is doable technologically and politically.
The open oceans are a place where the UN could actually work. It is in all major state's interests to protect the oceans' environmental health; it is in their interests to prevent illegal immigration; etc.
The UN should have an Ocean Guard; which would be similar to Coast Guards, except for international waters. Their ships should be lightly armed (compared to the Navy); and their primary directive should be to enforce environmental, immigration, and human rights regulations on the high seas; as well help with rescues.
With satellite surveillance it is possible to keep track of virtually every large ship; if they are dumping; if they owe fines, etc.
This is something which is doable technologically and politically.
155
"With satellite surveillance it is possible to keep track of virtually every large ship" Actually, no. If a ship turns off its AIS and radar, it's largely invisible until it calls in a port. Then you need to identify the crime, collect evidence, serve notice on the violator, go through all sorts of legal wrangling including possibly a trial (presumably in a newly created UN court, since it would be a kind of international jurisdiction), then collect on the judgement ... all done by UN personnel, who aren't exactly known for being the most efficient, competent, or even at times ethical employees in the world ... and that's not even considering the political sensitivities of creating an international police force, which I believe would be the first of its kind ever (as the current UN Police and Interpol are not really traditional law enforcement organizations). I'm not saying the idea could never work; I'm just saying it's not as simple as you suggest.
3
You over-simplify the problem and solution. Tragedy of the commons assumes people are other-wise rational. They are not. Oceans are an invaluable economic resource - why would someone destroy them? 1) Short term thinking, which dominates most thought. 2) The polluters and abusers are not "locals" using a "common" area which effects their reputation and status. 3) No one is watching.
The solution is regulation. Laws. Directed almost exclusively on the owners of ships and boats.
"Hardin's work was also criticised as historically inaccurate in failing to account for the demographic transition, and for failing to distinguish between common property and open access resources."
The solution is regulation. Laws. Directed almost exclusively on the owners of ships and boats.
"Hardin's work was also criticised as historically inaccurate in failing to account for the demographic transition, and for failing to distinguish between common property and open access resources."
2
do you have any idea how many organizations and oversight there already is in the LEGIT shipping industry? you want to add ANOTHER layer of oversight? you must work for the government or something, only those guys think stuff like that is a reasonable and feasible option.
also, imagine how many ships and crew it would take to "protect" the oceans, 75 percent of the earths surface. the port authority ends its jurisdiction 12 miles from shore. we're talking a few thousand ships or more and they can't be small boats either. they need to handle 20-30 foot seas. Ships like the Navy's JHSV would be ideal, they can be out to sea for weeks and top speed is over 40 knots, with enough room to do something useful. a thousand ships like that require a crew of over 20,000 well trained people, licensed officers, engineers, and deckhands.... Actually double or even triple that number, because you can't have 20,000 people working 12 months a year on a ship. they need rotations and relief.
Then ships would have to be held accountable by the port authority, the classification society, the IMO, and now the ocean guard. LoL.
also, imagine how many ships and crew it would take to "protect" the oceans, 75 percent of the earths surface. the port authority ends its jurisdiction 12 miles from shore. we're talking a few thousand ships or more and they can't be small boats either. they need to handle 20-30 foot seas. Ships like the Navy's JHSV would be ideal, they can be out to sea for weeks and top speed is over 40 knots, with enough room to do something useful. a thousand ships like that require a crew of over 20,000 well trained people, licensed officers, engineers, and deckhands.... Actually double or even triple that number, because you can't have 20,000 people working 12 months a year on a ship. they need rotations and relief.
Then ships would have to be held accountable by the port authority, the classification society, the IMO, and now the ocean guard. LoL.
Nets are among the most tragic. Huge nets, miles long, float and drag, entrapping fish and all manner of garbage.
Plastic is another disaster. It floats in huge islands with fish gathered under. Flaking plastic and other man made junk ends up in the intestines of fish, whales, and sea bed animals.
IN SHORT, man is the enemy, man will destroy the oceans, man will destroy the ocean's ability to generate oxygen, and the disaster experienced by scofflaw ships and stowaways, while unjust and simply incredible, is not the most serious of the issues at sea.
I am 76, and I have sailed the oceans. Among the dangers for a sailer is night time hits with floating logs and other heavy stuff that does not readily sink, but will destroy the hull of a decent boat, even double planked.
We are destroying our oceans and this planet.
What can we do about this?
I do not know. But I have no doubt that we are doing this.
Plastic is another disaster. It floats in huge islands with fish gathered under. Flaking plastic and other man made junk ends up in the intestines of fish, whales, and sea bed animals.
IN SHORT, man is the enemy, man will destroy the oceans, man will destroy the ocean's ability to generate oxygen, and the disaster experienced by scofflaw ships and stowaways, while unjust and simply incredible, is not the most serious of the issues at sea.
I am 76, and I have sailed the oceans. Among the dangers for a sailer is night time hits with floating logs and other heavy stuff that does not readily sink, but will destroy the hull of a decent boat, even double planked.
We are destroying our oceans and this planet.
What can we do about this?
I do not know. But I have no doubt that we are doing this.
37
The situation you describe for the oceans is not much different than the situation in outer space. Interesting that make your comment only days after a man-made object flew past the most distant planet in our solar system.
As wsws put it: 'How is it that our society can reach and photograph the most distant object in our solar system, and yet cannot deliver adequate food, clothing, shelter and decent medical care to human beings here on Earth?
There is a straightforward answer: the mission to Pluto was not based on market principles. There were no stockholders. No one made a profit cutting corners on the radio transmitter, or the propulsion system, or the instruments for scanning Pluto’s moons or analyzing its surface. No one placed a speculative bet on the failure of the mission, like the Wall Street criminals who crashed the financial markets in 2008.
The mission to Pluto demonstrates the power of science, but capitalism—above all, in the United States—systematically attacks public education, degrades popular understanding through the media, and promotes every form of religious backwardness. Modern technology can produce astonishing advances like New Horizons, but in the grip of Corporate America it is perverted to the service of the financial aristocracy and global militarism.'
As wsws put it: 'How is it that our society can reach and photograph the most distant object in our solar system, and yet cannot deliver adequate food, clothing, shelter and decent medical care to human beings here on Earth?
There is a straightforward answer: the mission to Pluto was not based on market principles. There were no stockholders. No one made a profit cutting corners on the radio transmitter, or the propulsion system, or the instruments for scanning Pluto’s moons or analyzing its surface. No one placed a speculative bet on the failure of the mission, like the Wall Street criminals who crashed the financial markets in 2008.
The mission to Pluto demonstrates the power of science, but capitalism—above all, in the United States—systematically attacks public education, degrades popular understanding through the media, and promotes every form of religious backwardness. Modern technology can produce astonishing advances like New Horizons, but in the grip of Corporate America it is perverted to the service of the financial aristocracy and global militarism.'
1
If you go to:
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-75.2/centery:39.0/zoo...
and search on "Sea Pearl", it's in U.S. waters and headed to Camden NJ.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-75.2/centery:39.0/zoo...
and search on "Sea Pearl", it's in U.S. waters and headed to Camden NJ.
9
Wrong vessel, that one is a bulk freighter not a reefer. There are multiple Sea Pearls around the world. This one is the former Dona Liberta:
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:706286/mmsi:57...
You can see her former name on the transom in some of the earlier pictures.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:706286/mmsi:57...
You can see her former name on the transom in some of the earlier pictures.
11
A walk on the Cattlewash beach on the east coast of Barbados tells the tale. The Atlantic dumps there... and twenty miles will collect enough to fill many dump trucks at least once a week. Once filled, there is no place to go. The island dump is overloaded... and the island creates enough trash to cause a further problem. Guess where they go with that....
How do I know? Years ago I organized 55 workers. I recruited them on Horse Hills at a bar, and paid them at the church across the street from that bar at nightfall. As directed, in groups of 5, 25 marched south, and 25 marched north, meeting in a hypothetical center, passing each other, and continuing to the ends of that beach. Five more worked to distribute what was collected, bring water, trash bags, food, and direct the ten groups. We used a single skid steer and a few huge dump trucks, many rakes and a few shovels, dug down and around all Bay Houses, emptied trash cans, cleaned from the East Coast Highway to the water line... and worked a Sunday to get that beach clean.
I did this because my wife was coming to stay at a bay house given to us by the owner for a week holiday. The owner was the owner of Cave Shepherd, Geoffrey Cave. He was pleased to see the beach cleaned... just once. He wanted to put us in The Nation for PR. I declined.
The lesson of all that trash penetrated... and Ian Urbina's piece rings true. Too true.
The majors all dump their grease and garbage. I doubt that any behave as they should. Tragic
How do I know? Years ago I organized 55 workers. I recruited them on Horse Hills at a bar, and paid them at the church across the street from that bar at nightfall. As directed, in groups of 5, 25 marched south, and 25 marched north, meeting in a hypothetical center, passing each other, and continuing to the ends of that beach. Five more worked to distribute what was collected, bring water, trash bags, food, and direct the ten groups. We used a single skid steer and a few huge dump trucks, many rakes and a few shovels, dug down and around all Bay Houses, emptied trash cans, cleaned from the East Coast Highway to the water line... and worked a Sunday to get that beach clean.
I did this because my wife was coming to stay at a bay house given to us by the owner for a week holiday. The owner was the owner of Cave Shepherd, Geoffrey Cave. He was pleased to see the beach cleaned... just once. He wanted to put us in The Nation for PR. I declined.
The lesson of all that trash penetrated... and Ian Urbina's piece rings true. Too true.
The majors all dump their grease and garbage. I doubt that any behave as they should. Tragic
17
This ship belongs on the bottom of the ocean, not on top of the ocean. The people (of Earth) have a right to sink this dangerous global nuisance. Then let's see if the real owner comes forward to claim his property.
20
An excellent piece of investigative journalism. I knew some parts of the story but this meshes many facets. This is another example of unscrupulous businessmen getting poor countries to in essence bid against each to lower standards. This invites crime, pollution and the other issues mentioned. If leading nations demanded the following of established norms, refused to let those exporting to their countries use ships not in compliance, and agreed to share the actually trivial costs for enforcement; then the situation could be greatly improved. We are wisely spending a lot to increase efficiency standards of cars and buildings and yet, as reported, almost nothing is done to improve the greater impact of the worlds shipping. This is false economics.
14
Excellent story. The lack of international regulation and enforcement, the buck passing, is disturbing--outrageous. The International Maritime Organization clearly needs more regulatory and law-enforcement power. It should have the responsibility and power to seize outlaw, law-breaking ships like this one, and prosecute their owners. The Flagging program is a farce and should be ended. Somebody must take charge.
23
Very moving piece of journalism. It is shocking and disheartening to learn how greed trumps humanity in so many cases and places around the globe. It's like the open seas's offer a safe haven to the lowest common denominator of human beings on the planet. Allowing them to commit high crimes against humanity, animals and OUR mother earth with impunity. One has to wonder how much the planet has left to give if the richest and most powerful people and nations on the planet keep plundering without abandon. I hope people wake up, because our children will be left to deal with the consequences in future generations if they are lucky enough to inherit a livable planet.
The Unites States needs to lead the world by example and start taking matters into our own hands. If there are not international laws governing international waters why can't we just dole our our own form of Cool Hand Luke justice?
The Unites States needs to lead the world by example and start taking matters into our own hands. If there are not international laws governing international waters why can't we just dole our our own form of Cool Hand Luke justice?
2
The United States??? Haven't we done enough expeditionary incursions into the affairs of the world?
5
As one of the largest markets for seafood and other goods shipped by sea, we have a responsibility to do our part. This involves leadership from businesses as well as our government. It is more about demanding traceability and ensuring people involved in harvesting, making, or transporting the things we buy are treated humanely than military action at sea. Most people would be shocked to learn how little regulation or oversight there is for the many ways we use the ocean.
1
John, I don't really disagree but you and I and everyone else must recognize that what we want is for the United States to lead the world on our chosen issues (and in the direction we prefer) but we chafe when others would impose their values and motives through similar mechanisms. We might want to impose import restrictions on fish - require proof of sustainable harvesting or "humane" treatment by our definition - but others might say "until they trade freely with our corporations" or "until they ban this religion or that" - and then other countries would say "we won't trade with the US until THEY abide by this rule or that" - and, well, you get the picture. George W and the neo-cons were going to use our trade and our military to build "shining cities on a hill" in the Arab world staring with Iraq. John Kennedy was going to use military force to shift the economic system (and government system) away from socialism/Communism in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Those are two examples I can think of from my lifetime and I'm not really thinking very hard (accept to think "is this post worth my time on a late Friday afternoon - no one ever changes their mind reading posts to newspapers"). I agree we might be able to find a way to lead that would ameliorate the lawlessness on the high seas - but I am concerned to find myself rooting for American intervention - I am usually wary of the hubris inherent in saying "we should tell the world the right way to behave."
7
There are too many people in the world, so they are cheap and it does not matter economically if some of them die. From the viewpoint of economics, it makes sense for some of them to die because it makes sense to risk their lives. Overriding the viewpoint of economics costs money and resources.
4
This is an important argument for the Jones Act, and for expanding it. Our ports ought to have our own ships under our own laws. We do not need to allow the pollution, the abuses, and the violence in our own waters.
Many nations do this. Denmark has turned it into a major industry, the Maersk Line.
The movement in the US has constantly been away from the Jones Act, to cancel it, to allow anything and everything. Yet those places served by it most, like Hawaii and the South's Intracoastal Waterway, benefit from it without question.
Many nations do this. Denmark has turned it into a major industry, the Maersk Line.
The movement in the US has constantly been away from the Jones Act, to cancel it, to allow anything and everything. Yet those places served by it most, like Hawaii and the South's Intracoastal Waterway, benefit from it without question.
13
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "expanding" the Jones Act. It already requires that intra-US shipping generally be handled by American ships. Are you saying that ALL ships calling at US ports should be American? Then other countries would require the same thing in their ports, and you can see where that would lead... so I'm not really sure what you're advocating.
2
Vast numbers of those "foreign" ships calling in US ports are owned by US corporations.
They are "reflagged," sometimes to nations that don't even have a coastline, always to a nation with no real connection to the ship, a purely nominal foreign ownership done for the sole purpose of evading US law.
Other nations don't allow this, including some very efficient economies like Denmark, Germany, Korea, and Japan. They prove it is not necessary nor inevitable, just a political choice, how the law is written in Congress.
They have laws which I refer to as expanding our Jones Act, which sets standards for some of the ships here, but not most. Such evasion ought not be allowed.
Those other nations also extend minimum standards to ships actually owned by genuine foreign interests. That is why the courses shown on the map for this offender mostly don't go to the EU. It isn't because there is no cargo to be found in the EU, it is because the EU does not allow this nonsense. Neither should we.
The EU cracked down in part because of some huge tanker spills off their coasts (see SS Torrey Canyon disaster). We run those risks by allowing such irresponsible laws.
They are "reflagged," sometimes to nations that don't even have a coastline, always to a nation with no real connection to the ship, a purely nominal foreign ownership done for the sole purpose of evading US law.
Other nations don't allow this, including some very efficient economies like Denmark, Germany, Korea, and Japan. They prove it is not necessary nor inevitable, just a political choice, how the law is written in Congress.
They have laws which I refer to as expanding our Jones Act, which sets standards for some of the ships here, but not most. Such evasion ought not be allowed.
Those other nations also extend minimum standards to ships actually owned by genuine foreign interests. That is why the courses shown on the map for this offender mostly don't go to the EU. It isn't because there is no cargo to be found in the EU, it is because the EU does not allow this nonsense. Neither should we.
The EU cracked down in part because of some huge tanker spills off their coasts (see SS Torrey Canyon disaster). We run those risks by allowing such irresponsible laws.
4
It is an amazing piece of work, and exciting to consider what the rest of series holds in store for us
The notion that this lawlessness has existed for centuries shouldn't be a surprise -- it's only now that we have the technology to even begin to understand what happens so many miles from shore. Which makes the voyages of early sea farers - Magellan, Drake, Cook, or the Polynesians who sailed with even less "technology" (but perhaps more ocean knowledge). And our technological advantages still leaves criminals like these a free pass, and leaves us without answers for a missing jetliner over a vast blue sea.
Kudos to Mr. Urbana and his work on this topic, and the Times for having the courage to support such a topic, and to present it in such a compelling way online.
The notion that this lawlessness has existed for centuries shouldn't be a surprise -- it's only now that we have the technology to even begin to understand what happens so many miles from shore. Which makes the voyages of early sea farers - Magellan, Drake, Cook, or the Polynesians who sailed with even less "technology" (but perhaps more ocean knowledge). And our technological advantages still leaves criminals like these a free pass, and leaves us without answers for a missing jetliner over a vast blue sea.
Kudos to Mr. Urbana and his work on this topic, and the Times for having the courage to support such a topic, and to present it in such a compelling way online.
18
Thanks to Ian Urbina of New York Times for reporting such a sad and inhumane problem on Earth! Hope keeps us all alive. We badly need United Nation to correct these problems so these sailors can work safely to move our goods.
Today Logistics is a major subject area for corporations. Consumers must hold these corporations responsible for how they ship their goods to your home. The costs we all pay for can incur in more than just what you pay out of your pocket.
Today Logistics is a major subject area for corporations. Consumers must hold these corporations responsible for how they ship their goods to your home. The costs we all pay for can incur in more than just what you pay out of your pocket.
9
The rampant oil & sludge dumping was unknown to me. This is an excellent example of reportage. Kudos to the NGO that tracks them by satellite. It may be time to institute strict enforcement (outright seizure) for these environmental criminals.
179
Not enough has been done, but we are making significant progress. The same type of satellite data that took once took us (SkyTruth) months to obtain and analyze is now the foundation of our efforts to make commercial fishing more transparent, and to automatically identify suspicious activity on the high seas in near real-time. You can read more about the status of those projects at globalfishingwatch.org.
SkyTruth would like to acknowledge Space Quest for graciously donating the 24 hours of global AIS data that helped us identify the likely culprit of the bilge dump off Angola back in 2012. It was from that "haystack" of global data that we found one very oily needle – the Dona Liberta. Thanks to their generosity and the hard work of everyone at the NYT, I believe we're taking big steps to shine a light on the world's oceans and the humanitarian/ecological crises that happen out of sight and out of mind.
SkyTruth would like to acknowledge Space Quest for graciously donating the 24 hours of global AIS data that helped us identify the likely culprit of the bilge dump off Angola back in 2012. It was from that "haystack" of global data that we found one very oily needle – the Dona Liberta. Thanks to their generosity and the hard work of everyone at the NYT, I believe we're taking big steps to shine a light on the world's oceans and the humanitarian/ecological crises that happen out of sight and out of mind.
54
You are a NGO based in the U.S. operating within the legal confine of the U.S. legal system. The coast of Angola is not under U.S. jurisdiction and therefore outside the legal environment you are permitted to operate. Unless you are operating at Dona Liberta's registrated nation, you are overstepping your rights and violating other nation's sovereignity.
1
I come from a long line of merchant marines and as a child I always heard stories about stowaways. Thanks for bringing such little known world to light.
4
Were things just as bad for stowaways in former times?
Thank you NYT and keep this excellent work coming!!
8
I remember seeing a movie called Deadly Voyage about African stowaways caught on board a Greek owned ship with a Russian (not Soviet) crew. The crew's dilemma was that if they docked at their port of call with the stowaways, the ship owners would be heavily fined and the crew members unemployed. Solution, kill the stowaways and dump the bodies. I don't know if this is a true story, but if accurate, International Law does provide an incentive for captains and crews to eliminate unwanted guests. Perhaps the law can be changed.
Criminal activity and illegal practices committed by ships, regardless of their countries of ownership or flags of convenience, would be enforceable if the importers, who are the points of destination of these ships, were forced to ensure to their legal authorities that international laws and regulations on shipping by the ship that delivered their goods were enforced.
This system would place the responsibility of ensuring that international laws and regulations on shipping were enforced on the importers. Moreover, importers would be obliged to post a bond equal to a percentage of the value of the goods to be received or imported. The posted bond would be remitted to the importer if the importer reported to their national agencies that shippers met the international laws and regulations on shipping. Random checks would be conducted to ensure that the system is working.
This system would be established by an international agreement under the United Nations, to which all signatories of the agreement would be obliged to incorporate this system of regulations into their national legal frameworks.
This improved system would deliver a clear message to shippers: If the international laws and regulations on shipping established by the United Nations were NOT enforced then the ship owners would NOT be paid by the importers at their port of destination.
The prospect of facing the risk of NOT being paid by importers would catch the attention of ship owners very quickly!
Thanks NYT
This system would place the responsibility of ensuring that international laws and regulations on shipping were enforced on the importers. Moreover, importers would be obliged to post a bond equal to a percentage of the value of the goods to be received or imported. The posted bond would be remitted to the importer if the importer reported to their national agencies that shippers met the international laws and regulations on shipping. Random checks would be conducted to ensure that the system is working.
This system would be established by an international agreement under the United Nations, to which all signatories of the agreement would be obliged to incorporate this system of regulations into their national legal frameworks.
This improved system would deliver a clear message to shippers: If the international laws and regulations on shipping established by the United Nations were NOT enforced then the ship owners would NOT be paid by the importers at their port of destination.
The prospect of facing the risk of NOT being paid by importers would catch the attention of ship owners very quickly!
Thanks NYT
8
"Free from legal oversight" then begs the question why we (and many others) pay taxes to support Navies. Criminals (and their prey) can be taken off ships, and ships can quickly be sent to the bottom, never to ply the seas again. All it takes is a little will.
2
What an eye opening piece on an issue that I didn't even realize existed - good job NYT, especially since stories here get dissimilated instantly around the globe. I hope citizens around the world wake up to this problem.
7
This is one of the best examples of journalism I have ever read. The facts, figures, multimedia inserts, interviews, and writing combine to let the readers decide what to think all on their own. It makes the horror of the situation so much more apparent when the journalist does not project their own views into the story. A beautiful example of true reporting on a tragic state of affairs.
62
Right on Matt! I would not want the Karma that the greek shipowner has
2
Mr. Kallimasias is one of the irresponsible lenders that put Greece in debt? God help the common people.
9
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Globalization includes globalization of poverty as we are seeing now with poor migrants showing up at the doors of western nations and nobody knowing how to deal with them. Slavery is alive and well throughout the world. The rich place themselves behind walls with armed guards and live by different laws. Republicans argue for less regulation so they can exploit the exploitable and then whine about immigration. The people who risk their lives to board these boats are no different from the economic migrants who board the trains in Mexico. With globalization, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The wealthy who have gamed the system hide their money in real estate in wealthier countries. Now in addition to exporting cheap goods around the globe, we are seeing the globalization of poverty. Mr. Mndolwa will stow away again until he either dies or manages to sneak into a western country where he will join the shadow economy that now exist here and everywhere else.
50
If and when any offenders ARE caught and convicted, the penalties should be made so severe that repetition would not occur. We have the same problems ashore in America. Big crimes = small penalties. Then the same crimes keep popping up. The justice meted out needs to change. I learned that years ago when raising children and/or commanding military forces.
4
Nothing will change until men's lives are valued. Since the world sees men as disposable creatures, unlike women, men will continue to die. Really after reading this article are any Social Justice advocates going to do anything for men?
3
This is absurd. Of course men's lives are valued; in many parts of the world, they are far more valued than the lives of women.
Your mens' rights whine aside, do you really think only men are victimized by this seafaring lawlessness? This is not about men vs. women; it is about lawlessness vs justice.
Your mens' rights whine aside, do you really think only men are victimized by this seafaring lawlessness? This is not about men vs. women; it is about lawlessness vs justice.
4
If there had been two women stowaways caught aboard this vessel, what do you think would have happened to them? Please tell us.
1
It is disturbing to see not much has changed since B. Traven's 1934 novel, The Death Ship was published. However, unlike The Jungle, which alarmed consumers to concerns of health violations, the seafaring novel didn't illicit the same sympathies or actions. Similarly, while this article attempts to make a connection by appealing to environmental concerns, the fact remains change will unlikely occur until there is an impact on the selfish needs of the first world populace.
16
In times were gadgets are mere distractions to the mundane lives and news reports are an escapism to boredom, earnest news institutions are a treasure. The New York Times you have outdone yourselves with an insightful and exploratory news report. You are on a mission to civilize and educate us all.
Thank you for stretching beyond the entertainment of the news feed to us by so many mass media. You are one of the few good sources of factual knowledge, you are a body of News service. You are the example to be followed.
I humbly thank you and congratulate the news team of this piece. Your hard work and long hours are valued.
Thank you for stretching beyond the entertainment of the news feed to us by so many mass media. You are one of the few good sources of factual knowledge, you are a body of News service. You are the example to be followed.
I humbly thank you and congratulate the news team of this piece. Your hard work and long hours are valued.
70
Hope the Times will follow this up with more on why governments allow this to go on, who and how those in power benefit, more on McCain. How does the TTP factor in.
11
Can they pass a law banning guns on the high seas?
Can "they" who pass a law (blah, blah, blah)?
But the answer is, No, "they" can't.
Doing anything in international waters requires an international treaty or a U.N. resolution, neither of which would be supported by the U.S., and other countries might have reasons, either ideological or practical, for NOT supporting such actions.
And such actions would 1) cost money as well as 2) threaten to decrease the profits from "free trade."
When faced with what seems to be insurmountable problem, the best solutions are normally a) ignore the problem, or b) claim that no problem exists. These two solutions almost always work!
But the answer is, No, "they" can't.
Doing anything in international waters requires an international treaty or a U.N. resolution, neither of which would be supported by the U.S., and other countries might have reasons, either ideological or practical, for NOT supporting such actions.
And such actions would 1) cost money as well as 2) threaten to decrease the profits from "free trade."
When faced with what seems to be insurmountable problem, the best solutions are normally a) ignore the problem, or b) claim that no problem exists. These two solutions almost always work!
11
Thanks. I agree with you. Sometimes problems will sort themselves out.
Where in this enlightening, yet incredibly depressing article were guns cited as a factor, or mentioned at all for that matter? Also, anyone with an elementary school education should know that there is no "they" with authority to pass or enforce laws in INTERNATIONAL (you know, like outside of any and all nations' sovereign territory) waters.
3
SHRINK GOVERNMENT Grover Norquist says that he wants to shrink government until it's small enough to fit into a bathtub and then drown it. A lot of people see value in those ideas. But if the want to stop deluding themselves, they can read this article and see what living in a lawless environment with no transparency whatever is really like. Without any oversight, in international waters, apparently the ships' captains become a law unto themselves. When they mistreat and starve the crew members or even stowaways, they are violating their human rights, not to mention other laws. But there is no consequence, because the captains seem to be beyond the reach of the laws. The slippery owners of the ships also use the lack of government control on the high sees to violate environment and safety laws. The scenarios described in this article is what shrunken government to the point of disappearance is really like. For those who see government as the enemy, be careful. If you take the wrong ship, you may get what you ask for. And be lucky to come out alive, if you're not thrown overboard, with a claim that you had jumped and no witnesses to contradict the story. I think there's a great opportunity for travel agents to book cruises on these lawless vessels for libertarians and others who deplore government to experience the chaos that results when there are now enforceable laws, no system of checks and balances. Where you're truly on your own at the mercy of the captain.
92
D.H. - "...for libertarians and others who deplore government to experience the chaos that results when there are now enforceable laws, no system of checks and balances. Where you're truly on your own at the mercy of the captain."
Just like immigration laws that are ignored by this "captain" within the US even with a monolithic administration!
Just like immigration laws that are ignored by this "captain" within the US even with a monolithic administration!
1
Nice of you to try and make this a political argument, but this has nothing with the so tiresome "SHRINK GOVERNMENT" nonsense. If you bothered to carefully read the article it is that our Navy, whether in its present size or ten times larger, has no legal right on international waters to stop just any old ship that does not fly the American flag. We cannot just legally go about the oceans of the world stopping ships from other countries...in some cases it might even be considered an act of war.
Also as noted in the article, there is absolutely no shortage of treaties, laws and regulations. But pass all you want (despite the apparent belief of some that simply passing a law ends the conduct at issue, a misconception disproven time and again) and it seems to have little effect.
Also as noted in the article, there is absolutely no shortage of treaties, laws and regulations. But pass all you want (despite the apparent belief of some that simply passing a law ends the conduct at issue, a misconception disproven time and again) and it seems to have little effect.
3
This situation is the result of two great Revolutions: the Computer Revolution and the Transportation Revolution. By a click of a mouse, goods can be on their way from a remote corner of China to a megaport, stored in a standardized trailer that will be unloaded at a WalMart in Kansas, by way of an enourmous, never-ceasing stream of over 45,000 ships. Because of these revolutions, the cost of tranportation is essentially zero.
Result? Unfettered capitaism, seeking nothing but profit, has despoiled the seas and emptyed the fisheries, and Americans, blinking, look around and wonder where all the factories went. This keeps up, a lot more of us will be living under a bridge.
Result? Unfettered capitaism, seeking nothing but profit, has despoiled the seas and emptyed the fisheries, and Americans, blinking, look around and wonder where all the factories went. This keeps up, a lot more of us will be living under a bridge.
46
International shipping have existed for a very long time. Chinese porcelain off the coast of Africa, Greek jars of olive oil off Spain, Indian dye on the street of Venice.
There is little reason to change an industry that works, is efficient and safe. For all the good those giant ships carries, there are very few deaths from accidents. Far less than those on highway just driving themselves.
There is little reason to change an industry that works, is efficient and safe. For all the good those giant ships carries, there are very few deaths from accidents. Far less than those on highway just driving themselves.
1
What say you, Republicans? Do we need a lot more regulation and enforcement, or is this just business as usual, and none of our business?
10
What are you going to do rule the waves like Britannia? Stop making it political, however if 6,000 women disappear every year the whole world would care about crime on the High Seas.
4
Ridiculous. This story is about violations of human rights, but you "men's rights" types can turn just about every story anti-woman, can't you?
Enormous numbers of women are abused and murdered every year in this world, but since most of them are from 3rd world countries, it does not make the news, any more than the deaths of their powerless countrymen.
On board the good ship Dona Liberta, stowaway women might have been kept aboard a while longer than the men were, but just until the crew was tired of using them sexually, and then set adrift just the same.
Enormous numbers of women are abused and murdered every year in this world, but since most of them are from 3rd world countries, it does not make the news, any more than the deaths of their powerless countrymen.
On board the good ship Dona Liberta, stowaway women might have been kept aboard a while longer than the men were, but just until the crew was tired of using them sexually, and then set adrift just the same.
Piracy is the basis for what we now consider normal, corporate culture.
Still there are bound to be endless human tragedies as people over-breed and totally overcome their local environment's ability to support them. Putting a human face on what is fast becoming a global tragedy is an exercise in self-flagellation. How about expanding access to birth control and returning family name ownership to women? Hard to discuss when most are still in deep denial about overpopulation to begin with.
Still there are bound to be endless human tragedies as people over-breed and totally overcome their local environment's ability to support them. Putting a human face on what is fast becoming a global tragedy is an exercise in self-flagellation. How about expanding access to birth control and returning family name ownership to women? Hard to discuss when most are still in deep denial about overpopulation to begin with.
18
This article reminds me of B. Traven"s novel "The Death Ship". It was written during the Depression. How things have not changed!
8
Last summer my wife and I were actually able to see the authentic British production of "War Horses."
Nothing has changed.
And this year marks the 100th anniversary of Gallipolli, in which thousands of Turks and Australians were slaughtered...for nothing.
And although it's also the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, NO ONE is talking about the fact that Greeks suffered the same genocide under the Turks...because NO ONE empathizes with those naughty Greeks.
Nothing has changed.
And this year marks the 100th anniversary of Gallipolli, in which thousands of Turks and Australians were slaughtered...for nothing.
And although it's also the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, NO ONE is talking about the fact that Greeks suffered the same genocide under the Turks...because NO ONE empathizes with those naughty Greeks.
6
Heartbreaking reality of the lack of respect of human life. Sound reality of how the world and it's people are desperately fleeing their native lands. Another example of how terrorists have taken the world by storm. ISIS and other brutal regimes are economically bankrupting other countries as they flee to a safe haven; while those countries pick up the tab. The price these people pay for such freedoms. More reason to address these brutal terrorists groups, i.e. ISIS; we cannot afford to wait any longer...
2
Terrorists are taking the world by storm because terrorism's History-driven leaders actually have a vision for making the world a "better" place. That their better place is a horrible, horrible place does not matter.
The West has entered Post-History:
"The end of history will be a very sad time. The struggle for recognition, the willingness to risk one's life for a purely abstract goal, the worldwide ideological struggle that called forth daring, courage, imagination, and idealism (1), will be replaced by economic calculation, the endless solving of technical problems, environmental concerns, and the satisfaction of sophisticated consumer demands (2). In the post-historical period there will be neither art nor philosophy, just the perpetual caretaking of the museum of human history. I can feel in myself, and see in others around me, a powerful nostalgia for the time when history existed. Such nostalgia, in fact, will continue to fuel competition and conflict even in the post-historical world for some time to come... (Fukuyama, p. 17).
(1) Used to be us; but this description now belongs to ISIS.
(2) What we are today.
Fukuyama, Francis. "The End of History?" The National Interest (1989): 1-19.
The West has entered Post-History:
"The end of history will be a very sad time. The struggle for recognition, the willingness to risk one's life for a purely abstract goal, the worldwide ideological struggle that called forth daring, courage, imagination, and idealism (1), will be replaced by economic calculation, the endless solving of technical problems, environmental concerns, and the satisfaction of sophisticated consumer demands (2). In the post-historical period there will be neither art nor philosophy, just the perpetual caretaking of the museum of human history. I can feel in myself, and see in others around me, a powerful nostalgia for the time when history existed. Such nostalgia, in fact, will continue to fuel competition and conflict even in the post-historical world for some time to come... (Fukuyama, p. 17).
(1) Used to be us; but this description now belongs to ISIS.
(2) What we are today.
Fukuyama, Francis. "The End of History?" The National Interest (1989): 1-19.
5
Generally good article, but like a ship without a rudder, its undeniable power is hamstrung by a lack of clear direction in reporting. It can't seem to decide if it wants to be social commentary on the plight of refugees, a spotlight on admiralty law, a call for regulation, or criticism of environmental practices. By trying to do all at once, the article lurches (sometimes abruptly) from topic to topic and the reader is left without a very clear picture in any one part. It's a good subject to tackle, but in my humble opinion, I think the topic would be better served through a more focused, multi-part series rather than through a single article.
9
The sidebar shows three more parts to be published in the coming days.
2
I will be thinking of this article for some time. The only reason we let these ships dock in our ports is because those who are getting rich through this system are greasing the palms of politicians. Otherwise, our system is madness.
18
There is no indication this ship docked at U.S. port ever. Most of ports it visits are in Africa.
1
Laws need to be passed to prevent this mess--maybe an international court of crimes against the environment? In the meantime, consumers can do something by not buying any fish products and not buying goods that have to be shipped across the oceans in those huge container ships, or at least reducing consumption of theses products to a minimum. This tragic situation exists when everyone passes the buck while having their hand in the till.
7
Agree with the gist of your comment, but unless it is made in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, most everything we buy in the U.S. is brought over by container ship.
11
Excellent investigative reporting and great writing.
By coincidence, I had just read this report of similarly unscrupuous ship owners in the 19th Century:
http://www.plimsoll.org/resources/SCCLibraries/WreckReports/16390.asp
It's a British inquest into the death of all the ship hands on a cargo ship in 1894, and it reads (somewhat similar to this article) like a summary of the sharp practices of that era. The ship owner is found guilty of a range of abuses but in the end his only fine is reimbursement of the cost of the inquest.
By coincidence, I had just read this report of similarly unscrupuous ship owners in the 19th Century:
http://www.plimsoll.org/resources/SCCLibraries/WreckReports/16390.asp
It's a British inquest into the death of all the ship hands on a cargo ship in 1894, and it reads (somewhat similar to this article) like a summary of the sharp practices of that era. The ship owner is found guilty of a range of abuses but in the end his only fine is reimbursement of the cost of the inquest.
29
Cruise passengers also need to be well aware that once any human steps aboard any ship and passes into international waters you are at sea and now under maritime Law and basically a stateless person with no rights. Yes, you are a guest of the ship, but a guest that enjoys the same status as cargo. The Law of the land does not apply when you are aboard. The Captain is King. This is fact.
We recently took a sea cruise out of Florida. During the cruise hundreds of those aboard were stricken with a viscous case of (check CDC website) norovirus. In case you are unaware norovirus is out of control epidemic on many cruise ships. The very best the entirely insufficient medical staff on board can do for those stricken is to administer Imodium, Jell-O and ice chips. Cruise ships quietly sail about with this nasty virus aboard all the while inviting innocent guests aboard again and again to take their chances. When we got home and advised the cruise line of our displeasure we received snotty, get lost, letters in reply. Like Vegas, what happen at sea stays at sea. Piracy( no matter the costume) is plenty popular these days.
Be aware!
We recently took a sea cruise out of Florida. During the cruise hundreds of those aboard were stricken with a viscous case of (check CDC website) norovirus. In case you are unaware norovirus is out of control epidemic on many cruise ships. The very best the entirely insufficient medical staff on board can do for those stricken is to administer Imodium, Jell-O and ice chips. Cruise ships quietly sail about with this nasty virus aboard all the while inviting innocent guests aboard again and again to take their chances. When we got home and advised the cruise line of our displeasure we received snotty, get lost, letters in reply. Like Vegas, what happen at sea stays at sea. Piracy( no matter the costume) is plenty popular these days.
Be aware!
73
you should always name the ship and person who replied to your letter in these kind of posts. Without those, we are left to guess who treated you so badly.
8
Norovirus does not spread any more efficiently or commonly on cruise ships than it does on airplanes, in restaurants, private homes or anywhere else. The difference is only that cruise ship passengers are all in the same environment for a week or more and are therefore AWARE that the virus is spreading from person to person.
1
Please do let us know the operator of the cruise that you took. You can do everyone a favor by doing so.
1
I have only read quickly over this article once.
But this article seems to be quite rare for a newspaper article.
I will actually have to read it slowly and then re-read it.
And it actually appears to be worth reading, at least, twice.
But this article seems to be quite rare for a newspaper article.
I will actually have to read it slowly and then re-read it.
And it actually appears to be worth reading, at least, twice.
18
Mankind is discouraging, at best. Man is not kind. Where are those in power who can draw the world's leaders' attention to jointly keep the seas safe? Jon Donne said, "No man is an island, entire unto itself . . ." Yet, Humanity works selfishly, narrowly and, perhaps worst of all, tentatively. It is still poking at problems, not addressing them as worthy, reasons to take personal risk in confronting, enlisting and unifying the rest of the world's leaders in a joint effort to rationally protect Man from himself.
What can the Bills Clinton and Gates do, what can I do? Is there no one with the organizational skill and will to create a better future?
What can the Bills Clinton and Gates do, what can I do? Is there no one with the organizational skill and will to create a better future?
2
The high seas. A bastion of hope for the criminals. Exploit and murder and you won't get caught. You won't be tried or put away. What a story. They say that the Third World will provide labor for the aging First World. Indentured servitude is alive and well across the world. Think about the UAE. Poor laborers come from countries of less opportunity, have their passports impounded and find themselves inducted into a form of slavery with no end in sight. Degradation of humans by humans is a tragedy that technological advancement does not stop. We advance but we step back several times when it comes to humanity and justice. As a collective we are worse than the beasts. We eat or own even when we are not hungry.
5
"Even in a struggling economy, Greece’s shipping magnates benefit from favorable government treatment, including an exemption for shipping firms from certain taxes."
"... $30,000 in unpaid debts from Mr. Kallimasias, who is named in at least 15 similar lawsuits in Greek or American courts."
This is Greece.
Do you now get why Germany doesn't want to throw another $100 billion at them.
"... $30,000 in unpaid debts from Mr. Kallimasias, who is named in at least 15 similar lawsuits in Greek or American courts."
This is Greece.
Do you now get why Germany doesn't want to throw another $100 billion at them.
51
This irresponsible ship owner is clearly described as an outlier among the Greek 'magnates', in several respects, so your generalization is misguided factually (as well as logically).
6
This is also Germany, the country from which B Traven escaped after WWI and which formed the basis of "The Death Ship."
1
Bad actors in almost any industry represent a small number "outliers," but the magnitude of their crimes makes them relevant. Most corporations, for instance, are small businesses owned by average people who just want to live their lives. But if, say, a large pharmaceutical company cuts corners and kills dozens of people in a clinical trial using exclusively poor African test subjects, it's not a defense of the industry to say they are an "outlier." Terrorists are pretty much all outliers of the total population of their respective countries, ideologies, races and religions, but no one can deny there are systemic problems in some regions. Furthermore, the irresponsible ship owner doesn't own one ship, he owns a fleet and this is but one example that has come to light. If he, being highly visible to any country, is doing this, it warrants speculation about what might be going on with less visible owners.
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This is an absolutely fascinating story, and a great combination of word and image. Thanks to all who worked on it. Superb.
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Quite a good story which was unfinished due to the automatically rolling film clips spaced throughout the story. While the mute button is obvious, having to hit it at each clip in an office environment finally killed the story for me. Having a button to default the clips to "stopped" would be nice.
15
Your computer has a global mute button. This is a somewhat petty complaint on an excellent piece of reporting.
3
Same here.
For some reason the New York Times has been throwing in more and more "autoplay with sound" videos on their website recently. There is zero reason to make the clips start automatically.
For some reason the New York Times has been throwing in more and more "autoplay with sound" videos on their website recently. There is zero reason to make the clips start automatically.
The New York Times finds the most interesting and important stories to run--really top-notch journalism.
27
I don't know, maybe don't stowaway. That might help. As far as the other stuff goes as long as the powers in the world keep the seas clear why wouldn't this happen. If you want to fly a Bahama flag then maybe Bahama needs to keep the seas clear of pirates instead of the US and others.
2
Well,...ok, I'll just sit at the opening to my lean-to in Cape Town until further notice and die. Not a great alternative. Recalls to me some of the conclusions reached by Paul Kennedy back in his book, "Preparing for the 21st Century"; where he basically declares that Africa is going to start walking to Europe (or perhaps sailing as well), and that it's not going to go well.
4
cph, this is probably why democracy will not last there. Only a non-democratic govt can take the needed steps to prevent this invasion. Long live Le Pen!!!
2
...And, um, what if the Bahamians don't feel the "need."
1
Beyond human rights, this is an environmental catastrophe. It sounds like merely one international and/or U.N. law would bring a big change: a country selling a flag would be required to investigate and prosecute all crimes committed under its flag on the seas or in port. Nations which flouted this law would be subject to tough economic sanctions which we've seen the developed world well knows how to apply. And vessels flying that flag would be subject to stopping and boarding by any UN member's flagged ship. This would get the tiny countries out of the flagging game and begin a path to responsibility. Hopefully before the ice caps melt.
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"Nations which flouted this law would be subject to tough economic sanctions...¨
So, a corrupt president sells the national flag to a ship owner.
The ship is involved in misdeeds.
Sanctions are applied to the country providing the flag. Millions of poor people are driven to further desperation,
The president of a sovereign country cannot be brought to book and imprisoned by a foreign power because of some sea captain's misdeeds.
So, a corrupt president sells the national flag to a ship owner.
The ship is involved in misdeeds.
Sanctions are applied to the country providing the flag. Millions of poor people are driven to further desperation,
The president of a sovereign country cannot be brought to book and imprisoned by a foreign power because of some sea captain's misdeeds.
2
If all these stowaways were simply permitted to come directly to the nations they wanted to these attrocities would not happen. As Milton Friedman has stressed, free movements of people between nations should be permitted in a, more or less, unencumbered manner. It is a very humanitarians solution to this problem.
3
What happens if free movement of people leads to a couple of billion people in, say, Bangladesh, China, war-torn parts of Africa, Greece, Iraq, Syria, Latin America, and elsewhere decide to come to the US?
8
They can all come, but they're staying at your house and your paying the bills.
5
Milton Friedman's other recommendations didn't work out that well.
8
Another magnetic, remarkable, important piece. Another reason why the NYT is an essential part of my day.
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It's like the wild west, weak laws, too few sheriffs, too many outlaws...and...nations are reducing the size and presence of their navies. One day, a terrorist group will seize a ship, kill the crew, and place a nuclear or other weapon of mass destruction on board and head for the port of a western nation. With a reduced Navy and Coast Guard there is little chance of intervention on the high seas.
American owned and flagged merchant ships no longer sail the seas. The American Coast Guard is spread thinly around our coast line or sometimes used in overseas military operations. The American Navy is a mere shadow of the 600 ships under the Reagan Administration.
The cruise industry, also not mentioned in this article is also sorely in need of new laws and supervision. Crew members are recruited and taken advantage of and passengers are at great risk of crime. Crews are not properly trained to deal with emergencies like a fire at sea.
It's time for America and other Western nations to reassert control over the high seas and the merchant and cruise ships.
American owned and flagged merchant ships no longer sail the seas. The American Coast Guard is spread thinly around our coast line or sometimes used in overseas military operations. The American Navy is a mere shadow of the 600 ships under the Reagan Administration.
The cruise industry, also not mentioned in this article is also sorely in need of new laws and supervision. Crew members are recruited and taken advantage of and passengers are at great risk of crime. Crews are not properly trained to deal with emergencies like a fire at sea.
It's time for America and other Western nations to reassert control over the high seas and the merchant and cruise ships.
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The largest air force in the world is the U.S. Air Force. The second largest is the U.S. Navy. The U.S. has more aircraft carriers than all other nations combined. To quote G.W. Bush before we invaded Iraq, "We can't be the policemen of the world." The insurmountable problem is that international waters are outside of U.S. jurisdiction. Also, where are we going to get the tax revenues to pay for this fantasy?
4
every ship has a distress radio, if they are boarded the officer on the bridge pushes a button and everyone in the world knows that ship is under siege, then they go to the citadel (the engine control room) and lock themselves in. terrorists may be able to walk into a crowed marketplace and blow themselves and 100 other people up, but it's not quite the same thing as boarding a ship traveling 25 knots on the open ocean and taking over the bridge, the radio room, and the engine control room without any type of alarm going off.
1
It's tragic to see the environmental destruction and abuses of basic human rights that are occurring in our oceans. It's not acceptable for our political leaders to shrug and pass the buck.
120
so are you willing to pay the large amount of money to create and fiance the institutions and enforcement mechanisms to end this? This constraint probably has something to do with the problem.
2
Yes
3
Yoda, your attitude is part of the problem.
We all share this (relatively) tiny planet. The days of "me and mine" are gone; we must either shift to an "all for one" mentality or perish.
I don't have children, but I would disparage of their future if I did. We must stop turning a blind eye to the plights of those less fortunate; and yes, WE must pay to help stop the abuse.
What's the difference between this and spending trillions to overthrow Sadam? I'll tell you: Sadam owned oil, ships just transport it.
We all share this (relatively) tiny planet. The days of "me and mine" are gone; we must either shift to an "all for one" mentality or perish.
I don't have children, but I would disparage of their future if I did. We must stop turning a blind eye to the plights of those less fortunate; and yes, WE must pay to help stop the abuse.
What's the difference between this and spending trillions to overthrow Sadam? I'll tell you: Sadam owned oil, ships just transport it.
5
Really love the front page gif! Makes me feel like I'm reading "The Daily Prophet" wizarding newspaper. Avast, matey!
13
This is an amazing story. What can we do to help!? This man, David, deserves a chance.
32
Great to see this kind of investigative journalism on such an important topic. Lack of attention to how we use our oceans has had disastrous implications for people as well as marine ecosystems. Will governments and businesses take up the challenge?
157
The U.S. and other developed countries must stop allowing ships flagged in countries of convenience to dock in their ports. This may require termination of shipping treaties, but so be it. These floating scofflaws could not exist if they were not able to off load in ports where their cargo was wanted. In the rush to enable globalization, we must take the lead in protecting oceans and people.
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Haven't you heard?
We need less regulation. America, and indeed the world, is being strangled with red tape.
Banks, too encumbered with rules, can't profit in a regulatory climate. We must trust the market to resolve issues; it's the only efficient solution.
The oceans will surely reject these scofflaws if given time.
We need less regulation. America, and indeed the world, is being strangled with red tape.
Banks, too encumbered with rules, can't profit in a regulatory climate. We must trust the market to resolve issues; it's the only efficient solution.
The oceans will surely reject these scofflaws if given time.
1
That would mean, basically, disallowing about 90% of the cargo ships to dock.
Maybe IMO should disallow countries, like Liberia, Bolivia, and such, who issue flags and never once inspect the ships they register.
The reason very few ships carry the US flag, is due to the US Maritime laws, which, basically, impede all shipping from occurring (go look it up), with rules from 1911 stating that only US flagged ships can move freight to US ports - this is an actual law. In order to go around this, all port are foreign trade zones, where ships of any flag can unload.
Maybe IMO should disallow countries, like Liberia, Bolivia, and such, who issue flags and never once inspect the ships they register.
The reason very few ships carry the US flag, is due to the US Maritime laws, which, basically, impede all shipping from occurring (go look it up), with rules from 1911 stating that only US flagged ships can move freight to US ports - this is an actual law. In order to go around this, all port are foreign trade zones, where ships of any flag can unload.
3
Juanita,
Your heart is in the right place, but if the US was to stop accepting vessels flagged to nation states, our economy would crash in an epic fashion. Out of all the deep sea vessels in the world, a very large some of which are registered in panama, and Liberia. If they were not allowed to import and export our capacity would be cut in half over night. The solution is to not only strengthen our merchant marine, but also require that other nations who responsibly register ships do as well and step up our inspection fam when allowing these vessels to dock. Ships are very expensive to run, and it wouldn't take many trips of being turned around without offloading cargo be for you had the attention of ship owners. By the way, of which there are plenty of Americans who own ships and flag foreign.
Your heart is in the right place, but if the US was to stop accepting vessels flagged to nation states, our economy would crash in an epic fashion. Out of all the deep sea vessels in the world, a very large some of which are registered in panama, and Liberia. If they were not allowed to import and export our capacity would be cut in half over night. The solution is to not only strengthen our merchant marine, but also require that other nations who responsibly register ships do as well and step up our inspection fam when allowing these vessels to dock. Ships are very expensive to run, and it wouldn't take many trips of being turned around without offloading cargo be for you had the attention of ship owners. By the way, of which there are plenty of Americans who own ships and flag foreign.
2
Great story, great work! I hope this can help muster US support for the need for an open and transparent mandatory Long Range AIS transmission for all vessels at sea, including fishing vessels? Knowing where they are would take us a great step towards policing illegal and criminal activity. See more at for example http://www.kystverket.no/en/EN_Maritime-Services/Reporting-and-Informati...
78
Ignore the nitpickers. Mind-blowing piece. And actual research was invested in this...that's why we pay.
233
PS. Thanks for the insightful article and the great films.
23
This story and more are all that need to be read and brought to light when Sen. John McCain (he of the landlocked state) feels the need to rewrite maritime policy because of "free markets" and how it would "pass on the savings to the consumer". The US merchant fleet, which actually complies with the rigorous demands of both international convention and domestic enforcement, is protected by the Jones act, which Sen. McCain has been attempting to destroy for years. We need to strengthen the act, and demand that fellow countries rise to our standard or our safety and environment will all constantly be at risk. I write this as a deep sea mariner of some years, witnessing both what was written in this article, and also the final dying throes of what was a proud industry in our country.
283
I believe it should be updated. We take a m lot of cruises and I believe those ships going from US ports should be held to US labor laws
4
The Jones Act killed maritime shipping in this country and has nothing to do with this article.
3
The "invisible hand of the free market" (now headquartered in communist China) protects everyone from these alleged "abuses" by these alleged "victims."
More importantly, like all good systems the "invisible hand of the free market" protects those who allegedly "abuse."
Haven't you heard?
And remember that John McCain was in the U.S. Navy. That makes him an "expert" in all things related to the sea.
More importantly, like all good systems the "invisible hand of the free market" protects those who allegedly "abuse."
Haven't you heard?
And remember that John McCain was in the U.S. Navy. That makes him an "expert" in all things related to the sea.
9
Interesting story. significantly weakened by PC nonsense like "where they were soon detained for being undocumented." No one is detained for being undocumented, whatever that is. It is possible to have sympathy for these desperate illegal migrants without lying about their status.
14
I'm sorry you think "no one is detained for being undocumented", but a quick google image search of "immigrant detention centers" will set you straight.
58
Jonas, I'm afraid you misunderstood my remark. I was objecting to the dishonest term "undocumented migrant," not saying that illegal immigrants aren't detained, as obviously they are.
9
Josh, an undocumented migrant means that a person is in a country or place where they are not a citizen, therefore they are a migrant, and they dont have the proper documents issued by that country allowing them to be in the country, therefor they are undocumented.
22