in my head this seems like a problem that could be solved by getting on the radio to a nearby port and saying "hey, we've got a tanker carrying $50m worth of crude oil, you can have it if you let us dock", but obviously it can't be that simple if that's not happening. why not?
There is always some poor or corrupt country willing to ignore consequences as long as they can make a buck. The profits are private, but costs and consequences always laid onto the public. Miserable way to run things.
this is basically what i'm suggesting as the solution here, rather than the problem.
if you're in command of a tanker carrying $50m worth of oil, and the company that technically owns it owes you and your crew $175k and doesn't want to pay, surely you're never too far from a country who would be happy to take that boat off your hands and cover the lost wages. how are these boats just waiting around in the ocean for a solution, when there's so much wealth on board?
Yes, basically. The situation is really really nasty, every year thousands of sailors are stuck aboard abandoned ships [1][2]. Sometimes, crews get stuck for years [3] - and the situation is made worse by the fact that leaving ship means forfeiting payment.
[1] https://www.voanews.com/a/fleet-of-abandoned-ships-is-growin...
these are in Western jurisdictions. We could hold them accountable, but we don't, because freight companies are insanely well connected in politics and too many too rich people profit too much from this kind of exploitation.
Yet another big problem is that cargo might be too low in value, or even undesirable. Like the cargo of Ammonium Nitrate that exploded in Beirut a few years ago (it had been taken off the docked ship which then sank in the port. The cargo was stored in the port, then stuck in legal and payment disputes, and the result was horrific).
it’s a bad situation for everyone but the seller that convinced the ship it could turn it around.
As staff who are presumably looking to eventually get another job in shipping, they have to follow the rules even if it's not clear what they are or the owner isn't following them.
The fact that the cargo is sanctioned makes it even more likely that a port will say "we're not touching that".
The "flag of convenience" situation .. well, it's a great way of evading legal responsibility, but it's also a very old one. That's going to persist for some time to come.
Interesting setup that the lowly crew have to follow the rules to stay in shipping but the owner doesn’t.
Usual story of the little guy getting screwed.
Much like hiring undocumented people for work, the rules need to be changed so the owners get immense fines in these situations.
Trump and his neocon masters on the other hand seem to be itching to start WW-3.
As for The Ukraine - there's no such thing as "Ukraine" - if they are lucky they will be left with a rump state, hopefully landlocked.
Of course, you don't know this because the West has censored real news.
BTW, if Putin had placed missiles and nukes in say Cuba what do you think would have happened? Oh wait, we already know. The charming JFK showed us.
The problem with debating USAians on the internet is that not only are they woefully inadequately educated, they also completely lack self-awareness.
Me trying to educate the wilfully ignorant.
Hilarious.
https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/goeb59...