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The shadowy world of abandoned oil tankers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddg885344do
50•1659447091•2h ago

Comments

ToucanLoucan•1h ago
Before I read, I’m going to guess some combination of shady business bullshit and global instability.

reads

Yup.

SanjayMehta•48m ago
BBC

Mandatory references to Russia, China, India?

Yup.

IlIlIlIIlIlIlI•38m ago
Nothing about North Korea?? Ahh!!!
smadge•28m ago
The Russia reference doesn’t seem forced since the explanation for increased abandonments is attempts to skirt sanctions against Russian.
BLKNSLVR•1h ago
This is another one of those things that, having put no thought into it as something that has sat in the background of life since childhood, I had figured was better organised/protected against malicious, negligent and/or fraudulent behaviour.

The world is far more of a chaotic jungle than the facade makes it appear. There is yet much opportunity for mischief for those who dare and have the resources and lack of moral compass.

bigwheels•46m ago
Reminds me of the Shipbreakers article from 3 years ago:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/the-toxic-tide-of-sh...

The toxic tide of ship breaking https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34905496 - 30 comments

Unforgettable.

BLKNSLVR•25m ago
The video used for this fan-made film clip is from a documentary called Working Man's Death about ship breaking:

https://youtu.be/KVm8G0ipETc

burkaman•38m ago
This kind of thing seems to be pretty core to the oil industry business model. In the US when they don't want to deal with an oil well anymore they have whatever fake shell company owns it declare bankruptcy and then they don't have to deal with cleaning it up (https://www.propublica.org/article/oil-orphan-wells-cleanup-...).
ggm•36m ago
This problem is one of the reasons Maritime unions worldwide have been significant and strong players in national labour relations.
notatoad•11m ago
so these ships are abandoned by the companies that own them, with the crew still on board? and then the crew is just stuck there with dwindling food supplies until somebody comes to rescue them?

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?

JohnMakin•3m ago
When you are flying a foreign flag docked in a port you are complex legal situation - in international law, you follow the laws of the flag country, in addition to being under local jurisdiction (most of the time). And if you’re flying a flag for a boat that’s not registered under that flag, which as this article explains is easily verifiable, who is going to buy the oil, and how? not to mention any possible international sanctions on the oil, customs, the crew getting paid and wanting to return home, wherever that may be, and you get situations that can last for a long time. For this case a boat to boat transfer may be the only real way.

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The shadowy world of abandoned oil tankers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddg885344do
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