The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

by Ian Urbina

A riveting, adrenaline-fueled tour of a vast and lawless world that few have ever seen: the high seas.

There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. Perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world’s oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation.

Traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion providers, clandestine oil dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways – drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil, and shipping industries, and on which the world’s economies rely.

Along the way, Urbina vividly re-creates his own experiences at sea. He recounts a dramatic near-mutiny miles from shore and a tense showdown with the Vietnamese navy, and he captures the squalid conditions of everyday life aboard a ship. Urbina also explores the complex social world of sea workers, where he had to earn the trust of cautious men accustomed to long and profound silences.

Both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposé, this unique work of reportage brings fully into view for the first time the disturbing reality of a floating world that connects us all, a place where anyone can do anything because no one is watching.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Politics, Crime, Science, Nature

544 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2019

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding piece of investigative journalism, describing a world that is mostly unseen but that covers most of our planet. Our oceans and what is happening on them. The author takes us to various places, some quite dangerous. Illegal fishing of Chilean Sea bass where he on a boat chasing a ship fishing illegally. On ships where indentured crewmen from South Korea are literally starved, worked more than human endurance can stand and often sexually abused. When jobs are scarce, men often have little choice. Thailand, another place where crews are mistreated, kidnapped and forced to work. Somalia, capturing ships and holding them and their crew for random. The movie with Tom Hanks I an example of this, though Somalian government is working to stop this and it is not as bad as it was once.

One of the most interesting is a man who actually recaptures ships being held in foreign ports. Can you imagine stealing back a huge ship. Unreal. The bribes paid that allow some to look away at abuses taking place. There is so much more, and the author takes us to each one. The author presents, section by section, each episode in a interesting and well written way. I found myself totally engrossed I this immersive read.

The narrator Jason Full also deserves four stars. He has a terrific, well modulated voice.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

We follow Ian Urbina as he travels the world to uncover the dark side of life on the ocean. He tells us about the exploited men and boys from poor countries desperate for work who become captives at sea. We see how shady ship owners, operators and recruiters take advantage of these workers to rake in billions. With this collection of individual stories Urbina shows the breadth and scale of the problem. He emphasizes the human peril over legal and environmental issues, but these too are addressed. We also get adventure and danger as Urbina risks himself to expose the perpetrators and help the victims. Urbina is an investigative reporter for the New York Times. His journalistic style keeps you turning pages. The movie rights have been purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio, Netflix and Kevin Misher. My notes follow.

Urbina focuses on the crews of fishing vessels. Many companies that operate these vessels make their money by not paying their workers and fishing illegally. One in five fish served is caught illegally rapidly depleting the oceans as overfishing goes on unchecked. The lives of the men and boys manning these fishing vessels approach slavery. When paid they are paid little and bound over with contracts that put them in debt entrapping them. If they don’t complete their typical two or three year stints they end up owing money. They work twenty hour shifts under abysmal conditions. The ships are poorly maintained, dirty and vermin infested with cramped sleeping spaces. Injuries and infections are common, the work extremely dangerous. Discipline is severe including withholding food and beatings. The workers stay at sea for months and have to stay on board when the ship goes to port. Urbina includes stories of ships sinking due to inexperienced or drunk captains and the unsafe conditions of the ships. The nebulous nature of the law on the oceans and lack of enforcement allow ship owners and operators to do what they want.

Manning agencies recruit poor workers from countries like the Philippines. The agencies make false promises to lure naïve people. They are traffickers. They collect upfront fees and then have these men and boys sign documents that they can’t understand committing them to jobs often far different than the ones promised and at much less pay. They incur large fines if they leave their multi-year stint early. Once at sea the manning agency takes no responsibility for the men, yet when the ship’s owners are contacted about the men they say the crewmen are the manning agency’s responsibility. A major reason for the arrangement between the agencies and the ship owners and operators is to be able to deny responsibility. Operators and owners are often separate adding further ambiguity. For the unfortunate men at sea, the law is the captain’s and abuse is the norm.

Based on Urbina’s investigation of Thai fishing fleets, sometimes there is no pretense and it is straightforward slavery. Recalcitrant crew members are beaten even murdered. They may be chained to the deck to prevent escape. Before the ship goes to port they may be deposited on some remote atoll under guard until the ship returns. They are under guard not because they will be able to escape but because the captain of another ship will steal them. Captains sell their crewman to other captains in need of more deckhands. Captains pay traffickers for the crewmen and they believe they own them. Urbina interviewed crewman who escaped with the help of charity agencies. He talked to Burmese, Cambodian and Malay men who had believed the false promises of traffickers. The traffickers got them illegally into Thailand where they didn’t know anyone and didn’t speak the language. Their passports or identity cards were taken. Then they were confined under guard and taken to ships as needed. Many of them had been told they would get construction or other land jobs and never suspected they would end up at sea.

The crewmen of fishing vessels also are caught in the constant battle between nations fighting over fishing rights. Urbina gives us a vivid account in the South China Sea. The Indonesians regularly were capturing Vietnamese fishing boats and crews in waters they claimed as theirs. The Vietnamese claimed the same waters. Urbina was on an armed Indonesian ship as it took over several Vietnamese vessels and captured their crews. Then a much larger Vietnamese Coast Guard ship showed up leading to a standoff with each ship pointing its guns at the other. Urbina’s ship hightailed it taking along several Vietnamese fishing crews. Such crews could be stuck in detention centers in Indonesia for months, even years if no one will pay for their passage back home. No one takes responsibility for them.

Urbina details another violent story, one where he ran into the “maritime merry-go-round” or what happens on the ocean stays on the ocean. A video was found showing men on fishing ships shooting and killing unarmed men in the ocean clutching onto debris. Due to the oceanic code of silence Urbina was unable to break the story, but another investigator did. Apparently it was to resolve a dispute about who was going to fish that area. The murderers were on a fishing ship that rammed and sunk the victims’ smaller vessel. According to later interviews with some of the crew, this was not the first time the captain had done this. His crew called him “Captain Hoodlum.”

Urbina also explores the oceans unique legal status in other ways. Just as fishing ship captains get away with abuse they couldn’t on land, so do others. Crews on merchant vessels don’t fare much better. They often are abandoned when a ship is no longer useful or the owning company has gone under. Left on an abandoned ship offshore from a port they can’t legally enter they are stuck until hopefully someone rescues them. There is an organization with the sole mission of finding and helping these people. Another legal issue Urbina explores is the problem of stowaways. Once discovered the ship is stuck with them. The stowaways are not allowed to enter the destination country. They must be deported which the ship owner has to pay for. Ships have been known to put stowaways on rafts and set them adrift to avoid the trouble and expense. Urbina interviews the lucky survivor of one such incident.

Urbina goes to Somalia and finds himself in extreme danger caught between competing corrupt interests. He went in to report on Somalian security services patrolling for illegal fishing. What he found was a total surprise. Local government officials sold fishing licenses and pocketed the money. The Thai owner of seven ships was paying $650,000 for a three month license. The national government said this was illegal, only it could issue the licenses. Different factions in the local government also claimed the right. Everyone wanted a piece of the action creating a chaotic situation in a heavily armed failed state. The issuing officials hired security services to protect the Thai owner’s ships and keep the captive crews in place. They feared that Urbina was there to uncover their illicit deal. Urbina traveled with fifteen to twenty-five heavily armed guards. But could he trust even them. Could he trust anybody? Before long he realizes that almost everyone is lying to him and he gets warnings to leave at once. Urbina’s account of his escape is riveting. After he left, Urbina pressed every authority he knew to help free the crews. Some were allowed to get off, but most were not. The Thai authorities turned out to be very responsive even though the owners had their ships reflagged in Djibouti. The Thai government is trying to repair its image. Unfortunately, the other countries that were involved didn’t care.

Urbina reports on the repo men. Tens of thousands of ships are stolen every year and many become part of a phantom fleet serving the least regulated ports. Ports are often run by criminals or corrupt officials. They frequently fake reasons a ship cannot leave until they are paid a bribe. Ships often end up in disputes between the owner, the bank that holds the mortgage and the company that charters and operates the ship. The shipper, receiver, and most importantly the crew are caught in the middle. The crew may not get paid if who’s in charge is disputed. Urbina interviews at length one repo man and goes with him as he prepares to take over a ship. The repo man uses every trick in the book to get on board and take control. Frequently the crew is supportive. He takes the ship to a port where his employer, often a bank, can get a legal judgement in its favor.

Urbina includes other stories. He accompanies Rebecca Gomperts who provides abortions on her yacht outside the twelve mile limit for woman in countries where abortion is illegal. He visits Sealand, which claims to be a sovereign country, set on an abandoned WWII antiaircraft platform off the coast of Britain. The idea was to host broadcasting, online gambling and other ventures evading all laws. It didn’t work out as panned but it was still an interesting story. Urbina discusses the problem of ocean dumping of oil and waste from ships with a focus on the cruise industry. The law rarely intervenes in crime on cruise ships. He looks into the problem of abandoned ocean structures such as aging oil rigs. He ends reporting on a vigilante outfit, Sea Shepard, as it tries to impede a Japanese whaling ship.

There’s a lot to take in. One is left with the understanding that the ocean is a lawless place. Laws are vague and not enforced. Money and power are what count. Urbina holds that making and enforcing laws against exploitation of maritime workers would do more than stop a human tragedy. It would establish the rule of law on the ocean, a precedent that could then be applied to environmental degradation and overfishing which is rapidly destroying the ocean. As Urbina was told by a fishing boat worker when he asked him which ocean his ship had just come from, there is only one ocean.

[Woman Reading (is away exploring) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

As one of the 7.7 billion people crammed onto just 29 percent of the earth’s surface, I love and I fear the ocean in equal measures. When I was younger, warning signs about the fatal strength of the undertow at the nearest beach were common. Now, these signs are supplemented by those indicating tsunami escape routes. I believe that investigative reporter and author, Ian Urbina, after spending four years actively researching his stories, would understand and share my feelings about the ocean.

For all its breathtaking beauty, the ocean is also a dystopian place, home to dark inhumanities.

Once I finished The Outlaw Ocean I couldn’t help but be reminded of those ancient maps illustrating the world as flat and with the warning “that there be monsters there” at the edge of the world. The reality is that a mere 12 miles away from the nearest shore, the “monster” out there is not the fearsome kraken but man.

While we have for centuries embraced and touted the life that springs from these waters, we have tended to ignore its role as a refuge of depravity. But the outlaw ocean is real, as it has been for centuries, and until we reckon with that fact, we can forget about ever taming or protecting this frontier.

Whatever rule of law we think exists is in reality subjugated by the law of “might makes right” because of the lack of witnesses and the difficulty in bringing violators to justice. Urbina unveiled stories that have been known for years among mariners but that are startling in their common criminality to us who are more earth-bound. Each of the 15 chapters could be read as a standalone, for they are extended versions of articles published by his employer, The New York Times.

Some stories illustrate the loophole fact that once 12 miles from shore, one is exempt from the nearest country’s jurisdiction. “Adelaide’s Voyage” was about Women on Waves and their mission to provide abortions in the international waters just beyond the reach of countries which have made abortions illegal. In “Jail without Bars,” the US effectively created a “black site” by keeping prisoners captive on vessels on a slow journey back to the US for trial with due process.

Stories depict the illusion of dividing the vast ocean into areas with boundary fences. The most surreal account is in “Sealand,” in which an English eccentric commandeered an abandoned military installation and claimed it as his own country. “Fluid Borders” illustrated this with the confrontation between Indonesian and Vietnamese boats, with guns aimed and hostages taken, because of their respective interpretations of their countries’ borders.

Only a few stories were about environmental concerns. Although humans have named the bodies of water closest to them to create the illusion that there are boundaries, this doesn’t alter the fact that the ocean is one. What happens in one area will invariably be apparent in a much greater area because of ocean currents. In “Waste Away,” many companies, including the Carnival Corporation, break international laws and illegally dump their waste into open waters rather than increase their expenses via proper disposal once at port. The “Next Frontier” revealed that so much is still not known about our planet. Brazil was willing to wait to learn about its Amazon coral reef, a very atypical coral reef located in freshwater, and postponed issuing permits to drill for oil.

The most disturbing stories though were about men as monsters. Urbina estimated that the black market for seafood was about $20 billion, roughly 20 percent of the entire global market in 2016. As demand for seafood has grown, a vicious cycle has been created. Fishing boats fill their hulls regardless of whether they’re depleting the fish stocks before they can be replenished, which means they travel further into the seas to look for their quarry. Never mind whether they’re even allowed to fish in certain waters (as in “Lone Patrol” or “Fluid Borders”). As fuel costs rise to as much as 60 percent of total expenses, fishing boats aim to lower costs by exploiting their crew. Slavery still exists in our world. It’s enabled by middlemen who “Shanghai” their crew via debt bondage. Once onboard, the hapless crew are totally subject to the captains who trade their crew like property with other captains and ensure their captivity by withholding their passports, threatening their families, and remaining at sea for months or years at a time. This awful tale culminated with the murderers of at least four men eluding justice in the “Somali 7” chapter.

Urbina covered a lot of issues as I haven’t mentioned the controversial topic of whale hunting until now. “Hunting Hunters” is the last of his stories as the Sea Shepherd had sailed into Antarctic waters hoping to thwart the Japanese whaling fleet’s “research.” Urbina ends the book with a small section of suggestions to counter the lawlessness of our last frontier. For consumers, a useful resource has been developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium - www.seafoodwatch.org. The NPR also published this article: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/....

From this review, I obviously learned a great deal, but I had to work for it. There were many times that I felt that I had to wade sluggishly through the material. I could only handle this book at a slow pace of 2 chapters at a time. Urbina would open each chapter with a figurative hook, then digress in the middle with background information and details from his travel journal, and finally Urbina would reel himself back to the opening topic to conclude the chapter. Although he is an investigative journalist, he inserted himself into the stories so that it was repetitive at times. I would have preferred a harder hitting journalistic detachment and then a separate chapter / appendix section with anecdotes about his research. I believe that at least five percent of the book could have been edited out. I had read this as a buddy read with several others, and some complained of the book’s organization and the overlap amongst the chapters. I agree that it appeared that way. It wasn’t until I finished that I realized that he arrayed the stories in increasing danger and/or excitement, which could partially explain why I had such a slow start with this book. The stories at the latter half were far more gripping.

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable work of journalism. The author gives us a first-rate account of the continual changes in the vast oceans. Much of it is not pretty.

The oceans are unregulated and what laws there are, are transgressed at will. The laws are airy and many countries have “their” ocean areas overlapping with others. The bigger the boat the more power it can have, depending on how its adversary is armed.

This is a personal book where the author takes us with him on patrol boats, with vigilantes like the group Sea Shepherd who cruise frequently in the Antarctic to prevent the illegal trawling of endangered species. Sea Shepherd uses invasive methods like firing darts of some sort or even ramming fishing vessels.


Page 185 (my book)

Over 56 million people globally work at sea on fishing boats. Another 1.6 million work in shipping on freighters, tankers, container ships, and other types of merchant vessels.

Page 186-87

The contract [for fishing vessels] also specified that there would be no overtime, no sick leave, eighteen to twenty-hour days, six day work weeks, and a monthly $50. dollar food deduction.


The most tragic reporting was on slave labour used in fishing boats. Often young men and boys from the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam are lured by promising ads in their local village to serve on these fishing boats. They soon enter a world of bondage where they are ill-fed, and can be beaten at the whim of the officers. Once at sea they are trapped and can stay for years, thinking initially that they would only be serving for a few months. There have also been murders. Thailand is now trying to come to terms with its recruitment and exploitation of foreign workers for its fishing vessels.

For fishing crews there are always deductions on their salaries – for the meager food they are given while on board, the accommodations and a charge for processing their documents. And their salary is often withheld for several months.

Page 192

All the [recruitment] firms [for fishermen] shared a playbook. They used debt, trickery, fear, violence, shame and family ties to recruit, entrap, and leave men at sea, sometimes for years, under harsh conditions.


Page 305

Samson [the leader of the Indonesian patrol boat] allowed me five minutes to explore each boat [that had been seized “in Indonesian waters” with the crew held on the Indonesian boat], and I found myself drawn to the Vietnamese deckhands’ sleeping quarters. I wanted to see what they brought with them. The men slept in a room toward the back of the boats, open to the rear with walls on the other three sides. The ceiling was low enough that the space required even short men to crawl on all fours. There was no privacy and no way to secure belongings, which tended to be crammed into torn plastic grocery bags, eight-ounce cans of Red Bull, packs of Vietnamese cigarettes, an occasional prayer book, muscle ointments… There were no great epiphanies to be had in rifling through their stuff, except for a humbling recognition of how few possessions they brought with them for months at sea.

Page 113

Before my investigator [translator] left the Oyang 75 [South Korean fishing vessel with an Indonesian crew], one of the workers on board, a twenty-eight year old Indonesian man named Purwanto, pulled him aside. Purwanto seemed genuinely puzzled why anyone would take an interest in the conditions of his work, whether he was satisfied and paid. “No one has ever asked about us before,” said Purwanto, who had been working on the ship for a year. “Why do you want know about life on the ship?” he asked. The investigator and union inspector responded that they were simply checking for labor violations. Purwanto said that even if there were violations, it didn’t matter – he needed the job, so he would not say anything more. There was nothing else for him back in Indonesia, he said. “This is the best we can get.”


There is also a discussion on stowaways some of whom are simply tossed overboard, but there is nothing on the migration of Syrians and Africans across the Mediterranean.

There was one interesting, and for me positive story (which reveals my point of view on the subject) of the boat Adelaide that was providing medical abortions for women off the coast of Mexico. It would land in a port and with the women on board, sail off into international waters where the procedure was performed outside of the laws of Mexico.

The author also describes the corruption in the merchant maritime where boats (and I mean large ones) can be repossessed for any number of what I found to be dubious reasons. In some cases, if the crew is owed back-pay they will not get it from the new owner.

There are many different topics covered. The author spent time with a Greenpeace crew that eventually succeeded in preventing oil exploration off the coast of Brazil as there are coral reefs that would inevitably have been impacted. I don’t know the status of this now with Bolsonaro in power in Brazil.

Another rather quirky one is on the Englishman Roy Bates, who in 1966 seized an abandoned World War II tower in international waters off the coast of England. He made it his own independent country called Sealand and eventually passed it onto his sons to manage. It strikes me as a looney libertarian set-up.

When you live on land and possibly just spend a few weeks on or by the ocean whether on a cruise or a charming resort – or simply fly over it at 30,000 feet the massiveness can overwhelm us. It is deceiving because we come to think of it as beyond being polluted, altered, depleted and contaminated – but yet it is – and rapidly so. This book illustrates how this is happening far from our eyes. Its ecology is being transformed with the advent of modern technology. I learnt much from this book. There is a tremendous number of articles cited and people credited, that make us realize that this work of journalism was a collaborative effort.

[Navi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and harrowing account of the dark, seedy underbelly of the oceanic crime world. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of the Outlaw Ocean. We are bombarded with gristly accounts of sea slavery, traffickers, pirates and so much more. I appreciated how the author balances this with stories of hope, fortitude and the human spirit. It was informative, well-written and I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the atrocities that take place in the open seas.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ‘high seas’ is a dangerous place and Urbina demonstrates enormous courage and passion to report on the ships and fishing boats that inhabit them. This compilation of Urbina’s reporting over a five-year period is both fascinating and appalling. It is a master class in investigative journalism.

The demand for ocean fish to feed the world’s burgeoning population invites overexploitation by companies that mask their ownership to avoid accountability and hire ruthless captains that overwork their crews. Outlaw ships fish in another country’s territorial waters with crews trapped in a form of debt slavery. There are 56-million people fishing the oceans, and it may only be a matter of time before the world’s dumped waste and plastics outweigh the fish that live there.

At one point, Urbina teamed up with vigilante environmentalists like Sea Shepherd in an epic 110-day pursuit of a trawler illegally fishing for toothfish (commonly called Chilean sea bass on restaurant menus). They encountered horrific storms and an attempt by the trawler to ram them. While these poachers did spend a short time in custody, the officers were shortly released. Indeed, the lack of justice on the oceans makes this book a pessimistic one. Highly recommend.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more than 3 stars to be fair, but not for me. I can't round it up. 3.5 stars for the content. And 5 stars for Ian Urbina's bravery and guile. But to be honest, this was one of the top 10 most gut wrenching tomes I've ever read. And that's saying something.

So many truly perverted, gross and just plain obscene situations are going on within the lawless seas that I find myself just not able to take the last 70 pages without an anti-nausea medication. And it isn't structured well as a book at all. It has points that were slogs to get through- and logistics asides of such length that continuity/ tangent was basically, IMHO, lost. Too many diverse ploys to not organize this better. Either by world locales or subject matter or some other less wide overreach. Human trafficking slides into all aspects on top of it.

Everything down near Antarctica is "we can do it before you catch us". And they seldom get caught. (The Thunder chase seems a prime example.) And if they do- they still go "free" to do it again. Or at least the perpetrators themselves have no consequence near to the acts that they have committed. Multiple, multiple murders only being the human loss side of it. And the pirates, slavery, sex used abused and shackled (traded like foodstuffs) while down to 100 lbs and then thrown overboard! Especially from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia (South China Seas) area. And the various crew tales alone for various "cheat" practices, I'll never take a cruise ship again. Never.

I knew about Somalia, but they actually seem like the chump change crew. And to say that this is a function of Capitalism? Nope, anarchy and chaos. Most of the double faced corrupt countries seating the "home" harbors are not so. Some are far, far into the take as much as the ships, captains, crews for the worst acts. Not only against conservatism either.

Read this one if you truly want a oversized chunk of reality that is a gross parcel to swallow. And I can't believe the infections and filth that Ian subdued himself to on dozens of occasions for weeks and weeks. UGH! Beyond horrid human treatments, worse than in the Middle Ages (being pulled apart by 4 horses almost seems kind) for comparisons as habits in former 1400 AD Europe or Asia.

He also is taking a lot of whole cloth belief and covering himself with it while swallowing all of his own highly slanted to theory "eyes". Definitely a NY Times think personna. My strong opinion is that the people who work for policing (illegal too what they do) stalking the nasty fishing and whaling meanies (despicable ALL is WAY too mild a word for them) also hold this "quest" and whole belief system just exactly like a religion or a cult of any other age. They remind me of the early martyrs but within an entirely different direction of faith. The fanaticism is EXTREMELY similar and that's why they put their lives at risk. And they sure do.

This is a far, far harder read than I thought it would be. I'll never eat Chilean Sea Bass again. Or be able to listen to anyone's Thailand vacation tale. Kantang! That has got to be one of the worst places I've ever read about in the modern age since about 1975. Maybe worst than what used to be called the Belgian Congo as it exists today. NO respect for life, let alone suffering.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In brief - Fascinating, horrifying, compelling and dark. 4.5/5

In full
Ian Urbina is a journalist. This book contains a series of his reports about the Oceans and the law (or rather lack of it). He has spent several years investigating these topics and compiling this wide ranging book. The oceans are dangerous places and Ian himself has faced dangers while making these reports. Frequently there is no real authority fin these remote places and equally no one to police them even if any authority was clear. While the oceans are dangerous much of the danger here comes from those who work on it. Frequently they exploit both it and fellow humans.

I enjoyed so much of this book. It would be tempting to go through it chapter by chapter. However that would simply spoil the book for other readers. For this review I will simply mention two or three of the chapters that I found particularly interesting.

The book starts and ends with stories about the environmental action group Sea Shepherd. In the first one two Sea Shepherd boats are chasing a "wanted" fishing boat starting in the Antarctic and then going where the fishing boat runs too. Frankly it read quite like a thriller and was an excellent start. The second looks at their activities in 2016 trying to stop the Japanese whaling fleet despite there being an injunction against them - again an excellent story. However in these stories and the others in the book the author uses the context of the story to look at the more global issues as well as the specifics. He also generally manages to maintain a fairly even stance too although that is simply not possible in some cases. Few aspects of this are simply black or white - Ian draws this out very well in my opinion.

An intriguing story in this book is about Women on Waves. The organisation has a small boat. They land in largely Catholic countries, collect women who want an abortion and sail until they are outside the 12 mile limit. This means that they are in international waters and so assisting women in having a medical abortion is not illegal. The boat has an Austrian flag and so that also allows activity that would potentially be illegal otherwise. This report allows the author to continue exploring the nature of "flags" of vessels including flags of convenience and the nature of maritime laws - a constant theme here. Broadening this out means the author considers the effect this behaviour - providing abortions - may have on the countries concerned by stimulating dialogue.

I find it so hard to simply find one more interesting story in this collection. There are so many things covered by this book that I think I'll just make a few points of interest.
• There are a number of stories about the sheer cruelty with which crew are treated. There are bizarre approaches to legality of what is done commercially and what is "allowed" by countries or turned a blind eye to.
• The "good guys" can be very hard to identify sometimes. If we still continue to kill whales what should we do about whales who have learnt to strip long line catches as fishermen reel them in - the costs are significant.
• What are the "economics" of stowaways - the costs to vessels can be high and that can lead to some troubling practices. How about the transporting of people arrested by boat rather than by plane - what might happen during extended sea voyages that could not happen any other way.
• There is time with the "repo" men who try and get ships back for people who are owed money - fascinating.

While maybe more than I intended to say when I started this review these points are simply a window into a fascinating book. There was not a single chapter that did not hold my attention.

"It also felt like time travel as I witnessed things - piracy, whaling, slavery, privateers - that I had previously assumed were safely locked in the past". In many ways this quote sums up this book for me.

This book should certainly make us think. It would be all too easy to say that this is not our problem. However it is our actions that lead to the abuse of both oceans and the people who work or are forced to work on them. One of the points that the author makes very vividly is the fact that we cannot expect to buy cheap tins of "responsibly sourced" tuna fish without someone paying a high price. If the idea of this book interests you do read it - it is worthwhile.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review

[Mehrsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is wild!! If you want to know what capitalism unleashed from all regulation or social shame, see the economy of the ocean. Urbina reveals exploitation and corruption and how easy it seems to be to evade all laws out there. Fascinating

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, demoralizing and depressing on many levels. rtc

4+ Stars

Listened to the audiobook. Jason Culp was an excellent narrator.

[Cynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of news articles about overfishing and other activities engaged on the oceans of the world, focusing mostly on Oceania.

Urbina finds himself wanting to pursue more information while being bound by the realities of maritime restrictions. He must gather as much information as possible, avoid becoming too much a part of the story, and make himself both familiar and unoffensive as possible on an ocean. There is is not opportunity to say: Oh, I see I have overstepped my bounds here, and now it is time for me to head back to the office.
Urbina sometimes--too often for his and his family's comfort--finds himself in situations were vermin (including bacteria), weapons, and angry people could have killed him.

After reading this book, I have become uncomfortable with my--and the cat's-- enjoyment of seafood.

Great Work and Committment.

[Daniel Villines · Rating 4 out of 5]

The oceans of the world hide the most tragic of acts in the open air. Their vastness is a blanket that covers up the malice. Some acts, such as fishing in protected waters, are known to occur, but other acts such as human trafficking and forced labor are not so readily known. Ian Urbina sought out these and other types of lawless acts for this book and often times imposed significant dangers upon himself.

The Outlaw Ocean places many types of malfeasance under a single cover. And yet, these occurrences are only the ones that Urbina decided to write about. In his closing comments, he admits that this book is essentially endless in terms of the abuses that take place in the oceans of this world. And to make matters worse, there's no present hope that corrections can be made.

Land-based governments are simply too busy with governing their lands. They turn their heads towards the sea only in furtherance of their primary responsibilities. This is besides the logistical impossibility of ever being able to police the sea in any meaningful way. If Urbina does not state so explicitly, he certainly shouts out with a very loud implication that everyone’s greed will eventually doom us all.

[Barbara K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to read this because I've always been fascinated by books about adventures at sea, most of which reflect a time far distant from the present in technology and worldview if not in actual years. Urbina's book promised to provide an updated version of life on the high seas, an opportunity to get behind the headlines of familiar topics like whaling and piracy and to learn about others even less pleasant, particularly slavery. It's all too easy to look away from these realities and I wanted the challenge of facing into them.

And The Outlaw Ocean delivers. As Urbina presents a wealth of information about the ways in which the oceans are used and abused in the 21st century it becomes clear that there is no effective "law" in the common areas of the ocean, those places no nation has the right, and perhaps more importantly the responsibility, to police. Sadly enough, even when it might be possible to take action against some truly evil activities, greed and corruption stand in the way.

While reading about fish populations being decimated and coral reefs despoiled is hard enough, the most horrific chapter addressed slavery at sea. Think of those impressed sailors you've read of in history and in fiction, crossed with the "company towns" tied to industries like mining, where it is impossible to leave because you always owe more than you earn. Impoverished men from countries with little economic opportunity are lured into spending years at sea, out of touch with family, hidden from view when other ships are near, sometimes shackled, frequently beaten, and periodically sold to other ships. Reading about this is tough sledding.

I think what made it possible for me to finish the book (it was certainly not the prospect of a happy ending) was the author's journalistic writing style. Very little in the book is hearsay. Urbina spent months at sea, year after year, often under extremely unpleasant and dangerous conditions, collecting the information and stories he shares. He struggles with inner conflicts between his job of bearing witness as a journalist and his innate human desire to try to help those suffering the worst abuses. It all comes together to engage me as a reader, but with enough distance that I didn't want to run away.

It's not a book for everyone, but I'm glad I read it. Although I may not eat tuna for a while...

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing. Incresasingly, the fact that our first world nation is built on the abuse of third world nations' peoples, weighs on my psyche. This is yet another example. Urbina documented a variety of cases of whole fishing fleets abusing and exploiting merchant marines. One more example of why I am a vegetarian although I am aware that most agricultural laborers are equally exploited.

Well researched, well documented a wonderful personal touch to many of the stories. Not Urbina's fault but 1 star deducted becuase it was a grim read.

[Silvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reportage, HIGHLY relevant for everyone. I feel sorry for those fishermen, those whales, those sea cruise workers, those sea vigilantes, and my own hopeless country and citizens who take our own ocean for granted.

After this book I will:
1. Reduce my seafood intake and opt for locally caught fish if possible.
2. Never go on cruises - they are vile both to the environment and their crews
3. Be mindful of my own waste
4. Raise awareness on sea slavery of the 400,000 Indonesians still being shackled around the globe
5. Advocate for better tourist regulation from touching and eating protected marine animals
6. Pay more attention to the biggest offenders like Japan who hunts for whales in international waters, Vietnam & China because they stomped on our sovereignty (Vietnam rammed our ship and imprisoned our officer, China is a known repeat border offenders) and Taiwan due to their horrible fishing industry rampant with slavery.
Too extreme? It's better than just stay silent and do nothing.

I don't have time to write a longer review, but I could refer you to my friend's great review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been looking forward to reading this book soon as I saw it announced. I have read several chapters (not necessarily in order) and am so blown away with the scope, the writing, and the whole production that took to get all of these stories written. Why is this topic and this book not a bigger deal? I have been recommending it to friends right and left and hoping that it gets the attention it so rightfully deserves. If you wish to know more about where the fish on your plate comes from, the overfishing that happens all over the world, the haplessness against human trafficking/slavery on the high seas (just to list a few), this book is a must-read.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I have something else to worry about - the state of the oceans and the humans who work on them. As if global warming wasn't enough.

The author, Ian Urbina, was a journalist for the NY Times when he wrote this book. NYT sponsored his investigations all over the planet and published his findings as essays. They were then compiled into this book. Urbina covered various human activities including illegal fishing, the volunteers trying to catch them (one ship was named the Bob Barker) and piracy. I felt as sorry for the fishermen as I did the wildlife they were catching. The practice of shanghaiing sailors was still alive and well in 2020 when this book was published and I imagine it still is.

Who is policing our oceans you may ask? International laws exist but there are few to enforce them. The scope of the seas is just too vast. Once a vessel is in waters that are more than 24 miles off the coast of a country, they are considered to be on the high seas and in international waters. Countries are busy enough protecting their own 24 miles let alone international waters.

Not every chapter was gloom and doom. The gloomy chapters took me months to read. Parts of it are an entertaining adventure tale too. There were plenty of high speed chases that kept me swiftly turning the pages. Urbina was on vessels both being chased and doing the chasing. This book was not just a good read - it was an experience.

[Daniel Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first nonfiction book I've read in a year. In The Age of Trump, I've wanted to unplug and immerse myself in fiction. Urbina has done a spectacular job of reporting on all the myriad ways that governments and individuals use the international waters to skirt the law; everything from human trafficking, illegal fishing, drugs, financial malfeasance.

The book isn't a dry recitation of facts, but goes up close and in-depth to report on the human drama at play on the high seas. This book deserves the Pullizer Prize.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book gripped me from start to end. It took me a while to finish, as I listened to it as an audiobook and I only listen to them on my daily commute, and this is quite a long book. (18 hours) Everytime I looked forward putting it on.

In this book, journalist Ian Urbina tells tales about criminality on the open seas. He actually goes to the countries, boards the ships and often ends up in dangerous situations. What you notice right away is how much research and time went into this book. The stories are detailed, but not boring. He is a journalist who keeps an open mind, even though he comes across some nasty people, he still realises that not everyone does these things by choice.

There are stories about illegal fishing operations, human trafficking, Sea Shepherd, female doctors at sea who perform abortions in open waters for desperate women who aren't allowed to do so on land, and SeaLand,a very small micronation on an abandoned marine platform close to the british coast.
All gripping, real and interesting stories. The author sometimes throws in personal tidbits, which I really like, and you notice how much work, time and love he put into this book. One of my favourites!

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

For centuries, humanity has viewed the ocean as a metaphor for infinity. The assumption was—and frankly still is for many people—that the enormity of the sea came with a limitless ability to absorb and metabolize all. This vastness is what lends the ocean deity-like potential. And more narrowly, it is also what has provided us over the years with the license to dump virtually anything offshore.

The amount of blood, sweat and tears that Urbina put into this book is simply astonishing. From high-risk chases across the Drake Passage to cramped nights spent with Cambodian fishermen being forced to live in truly vile conditions. This book is as excellent as it is depressing (for the most part) and unveils the harsh reality of humanity's exploitation of the Earth's ocean. Urbina's compelling writing style helps pull you through the tougher subjects like murders at sea that go unpunished or the abuse that many fishermen suffer at the hands of ship operators who just see them as another commodity. It's a tough read but it's very eye-opening and I think Urbina did a fantastic job of compiling his experiences and wealth of knowledge into this book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Urbina is a NY Times reporter, and it shows. This book, a series of chapters about things that are happening on the world's oceans that we don't know about but should, is well-researched, well-written, and interesting. But, I must confess, it's also a bit of a slog to get through. The book focuses on such subjects as slavery at sea, human trafficking, illegal fishing, climate change, and more. All very difficult and important topics that it's important we should learn more about, and take action where we can. The overriding theme is that, because our oceans aren't really "owned" by countries, it's shockingly easy for bad players to thrive, and disconcertingly difficult for good intentions to become positive actions. Outlaw ocean, indeed.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying. Amazing. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Boy Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is an impressive collection of articles. Urbina should be praised for pushing himself to report in dangerous areas that not only no one was reporting on but certain entities were determined to keep unreported. The battle to find the truth on the high seas is fraught with countless issues, the biggest one being the largely toothless and unenforceable international maritime laws. But Urbina shines a light on nearly every dirty industry at sea, from fishing and whaling, to cruise ships and pirates. The work is comprehensive and he has put his life on the line many times to ensure his reporting was as close to the source and truthful as possible.

A few little flaws.

While I appreciated the reasoning behind having the chapters present like essays, it did harm Urbina's broader points. This idea of creating more awareness and tougher legislation across industries would probably be served by finding more similarities between each ocean exploiting sector and strengthening an international governing body.

There were also several essays that I felt were padded out for no reason. The Repo men chapter in particular has multiple instances of doubling up in the writing. That chapter felt very much like he was trying to hit a word limit and it suffered for it. You'd think the heist of an enormous ship would be a riveting story but Urbina manages to make it pretty dull and confusing.

What concerned me the most though was in the Middlemen chapter where some of his statistics are just straight up bogus. He says "By 2017 the Philippines was sending roughly a million workers - about 10 percent of its population - abroad annually." Um no. The Philippines in 2017 had a population just over 100 million, which would make it 1 percent. 10 percent of the population would be 10 million people. I like to think it's a genuine mistake but from that point on I just wasn't sure about a lot of the statistics. Many of the statistics also fall into that incomprehensible type. 2 tonnes of fish sounds like a lot but I really don't know if on a global scale it is. A fully grown Bluefin tuna averages around 250kg in weight. 2 tonnes of Bluefin would then be 8 fish. It's just hard to know the truth if you're dealing with absolute measurements and you have no industry experience. In other parts Urbina did a great job of saying things as percentage decreases and increases or using analogies such as Palau's sovereign waters being the size of France.

In the introduction Urbina mentions that he was still hunting for typos and mistakes and I like to think what I've identified has been rectified for future copies but It does come across pretty sloppy.

My final bone of contention is some reasonably disturbing information I discovered when reading more about Urbina's not for profit The Outlaw Ocean Project. Urbina decided to create an accompanying album to the book and the project. To do this he contacted hundreds of musicians and got them to create music for the project and he then registered a company and split the revenue 50/50. That revenue didn't got to the project like he'd claimed, it went to him personally. Many of the musicians also felt tricked because Urbina gets an equal artist credit on the 462 Ocean Project songs (and counting), yet he had no involvement in the creation of any of these songs. A few used sounds he had recorded on his journeys but those were the sounds of fishermen working or nature etc.

Anyway, Urbina actually received the reasonably prestigious Scripps Howard award for innovation in journalism for essentially tricking all these artists into making songs for him. He now consults and is on panels about innovation in journalism. What gets more interesting is that having figured out the trick he's now approached hundreds of musicians again, this time to get them to contribute a song to the Noam Chomsky Music Project. The catch here is he has nothing to do with Noam Chomsky, has never worked with him or even written about him. It actually makes me feel slightly ill. Especially considering Urbina dedicated the better part of a decade reporting on truly horrific exploitation at sea, and then here he is trying to exploit musicians to make money off some other famous person's name. What happened to our righteous crusader charging into the breach?

All of that is really unfortunate because The Outlaw Ocean is an important book on an exceptionally important series of issues.

[Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to give this book such a low rating because I was so looking forward to this. I love books that take place on the ocean - fiction and non-fiction. Now add in an element of criminality and on its face this was the perfect book for me. To the author's credit, this is an incredible display of investigative journalism and a wonderful expose about problems that the average person is ignorant of: human rights violations, indentured servitude, illegal fishing. But, for a book about the ocean it was just so dry (pun intended). I skipped paragraphs, I skipped chapters - quite simply there was too much extraneous detail that large chunks were so boring.
The book highlighted Mr. Urbina's years worth of research, his ability to get firsthand experiences aboard these shipping vessels, and access to a wealth of human rights violations. And he documented it to an amazing degree. My issue with this though as a book is that it could have been edited better and condensed to about 150 total pages. My favorite chapters were actually the ones that didn't discuss the problems in the illegal fishing industry. I enjoyed learning about Sealand, how it was founded and defended; I was amazed about the Adelaide, a ship that caters to women wanting to have abortions in countries where it is banned; and then the idea of repossessing a ship in the dark of night. Despite those interesting chapters they were all plagued with the same problem of too many details that went beyond the basic necessary information to the point that I wanted it to end.
I hate that I'm going to be an outlier here with my rating, but I've come to terms that not every book is for every person.

[Robert Sheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Representing four years' worth of investigative journalism into "the dark underbelly of this offshore frontier, places where the worst instincts of our human species thrived and flourished," this book is a terrific examination of "the outlaw ocean." It will infuriate you, dishearten you, and make you want to become an activist to fight against the violence, lawlessness, and corruption that allows poaching, labor slavery, human trafficking, toxic dumping, and piracy to continue unchecked around the world. Urbina's crazy, putting himself in the tightest of spots again and again, but his writing is engaging, his research is thorough, and his clear-headedness means he's the right guide for this harrowing tour.

[Kazen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urbina spent years reporting on all things ocean that we don't think about, or sometimes don't even know exist. He tells us about everything from poaching to sea slavery to the mysteries of the ocean floor in a strong and engaging writing style. Things get tense, he has to make some morally gray decisions, but he doesn't shrink away from telling us the whole story. It can be hard to read at times but I learned so, so much.

Full review in my January Wrap Up on Booktube: https://youtu.be/2r554OwaQ5k

[kallis.ema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate this book with a solid 3,5 stars. I stumbled upon Ian Urbina through Spotify where he collaborated with an artist I use to listen to. I was immediately hyped by this man who reports about different aspects concerning the ocean. It was a bit of a downer when I learned that he is also a bit sun, using his name and his former employer the NY Times as references to raise money for his mission in the best case, and to rip off artists to fill his own pockets in the worst case. Nonetheless, The Outlaw Ocean is an interesting book highlighting the different roles the ocean can play for different people. From being a prison for men being trafficked to work at fishing vessels, to offering a possibility for women to get an abortion just off the coast of countries where abortion is illegal, it becomes obvious, that the sea is not guarded well enough in many aspects. Since I listened already to the Outlaw Ocean podcast, I already knew some of the stories that were presented in this book. I guess if not, I would've been even more enthusiastic. At some point I realised, that I just cannot warm up with Ian Urbina and how he describes his involvement in certain situations. I get that he is the one writing the book and writing down his experiences, but sometimes I just felt like he is full of himself and no situation was challenging to him, even when he was describing situations where he admitted that he was overwhelmed. I cannot exactly pinpoint where this feeling comes from but I have to admit I have more sympathy with some of the protagonists of his story than with him. After finishing the book, I realise that there are so many aspects worth investigating in the future concerning the ocean, fishing, human rights abuses, etc. I am looking forward to read more about this topic, and I am sure I will continue to reflect on this book and continue this review at some point.

[Жанна Пояркова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очень интересная книга про беззаконие в мировом океане, полная приключений. Автор не ограничивается сомалийскими пиратами, а пишет о рабовладении на рыболовецких судах, хитрой уловке - корабле-абортарии, подплывающем к странам с мракобесным законодательством, драках с браконьерами, диких эко-террористах, лживых китоловах, заброшенных нефтяных платформах и плавучих арсеналах.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.bookwormblues.net/2020/06/...

The Outlaw Ocean is a book I read when it first came out, and it made a huge impact on me. I actually have it on hold at the library again, because I intend on a second read for novel-writing research purposes. However, this is one of those books that I think should be widely read, because there are certain conversations that, I think, need to take place.

The Outlaw Ocean is, first and foremost, a stunning work of journalism. Ian Urbina has always had a thing for the sea, and has worked as a journalist reporting from the world’s last true frontier for years and years. Now, before we continue on, I think all of you need a bit of a background on me. There are a list of things that nothing in the world could make me care enough to read about: Zombies, flesh-eating bugs, Oprah, and boats. And honestly, “boats” is absolutely not fourth on that list. It’s somewhere like item number one or two. I don’t honestly know why my aversion is there, but it absolutely is.

I thought, due to that, this book would take an act of god for me to get through, and I will freely admit that the first chapter did almost nothing for me, and I nearly gave up on the book then and there, but I kept on keeping on and I was rewarded for my efforts. After that chapter, I found this book nearly impossible to put this book down. The thing is, Urbina does some incredible journalistic work here, revealing the intricacies of the ocean, the difficulty legislating out there, lax laws, and how corporations and governmental entities have figured out ways to take advantage of all the above.

It’s a horrifying book. Slavery is still very much a thing in existence, and it seems as though one of the last bastions of slavery in this world is the ocean. Companies base their operations in countries that have lax laws and then fill their boats with, for example, boys who from various inland areas of Asia, who have never seen the ocean before, and get suckered into these impossible jobs where they are paid absolutely nothing and put their lives at risk constantly for their work. It is not unusual to see people killed, or die. It is not unusual to get a small injury, which gets infected, and then lose a limb. When asked why they keep working for these companies, they either are stuck in the job and have no way out of it, or the economy is so broken where they are from, there is literally nothing else for them to do.

It isn’t a coincidence that this book is called The Outlaw Ocean. In truth, countries can only police so much of the ocean that surrounds their shores, and often fishing boats and the companies that power them know that. There are small wars waged between governments who want to preserve the ocean around their shores, people who try to environmentally protect our deep seas and the creatures that live in them, and those who take advantage of the very same. Vigilante environmentalists linger out in the deep ocean, reporting on practices by pirates and other deep fishing companies that seem to know exactly how to skirt the laws of numerous lands and spend their time lingering in international waters, dragging their nets and destroying ocean floors, but it’s not enough.

I was, perhaps, the most surprised by just how wide and varied Urbina’s coverage of this issue actually was. He didn’t stop at pirate, traffickers, slavers and the like. He also managed to interview a woman who spent her time ferrying women from various locations in Mexico, where abortion was illegal, to a boat kept just outside of Mexico’s jurisdiction, where she performs abortions on the women who, for one reason or another, require this service. The risks of such an operation, and the legal aspects of it are also focused on, as well as why she feels strongly enough about this cause to put everything at risk the way she does. It was quite touching, and very eye opening, the lengths people will go to for such a medical procedure.

He also focuses on people who have made the ocean their home, whether by creating their own micro-countries (which was FASCINATING, I will admit), or those who just make it their home to take advantage of lax shipping, human trafficking, and employment laws on the deeper seas. The ocean holds an entire world that has honestly never occurred to me.

The thing is, this book does focus on a lot of dark topics, but Urbina does a great job at balancing out all these harrowing, dark deeds with the ingenuity of human nature, and the unbroken human spirit. As long as there are people destroying the oceans, trafficking humans, etc. There will be people working hard to stop them.

The issue, in my mind, is that the task seems so impossible. Perhaps that is the opposite impact this book should have left me with, but there is so very much ocean, and so very few laws and people capable of enforcing (or people/countries who care enough to enforce) them… and there’s just so much of it, and so many people and companies who seem to know exactly how to skirt all of the above for their own financial gain, often at the risk of so many people who literally are trapped, that I just don’t know how it’s possible to really make a huge impact on any of that.

I’m not a person who advocates pitchfork burnings and marching through the town square until the bad people are run off, but I very nearly think that some of these companies who traffic humans, and basically run slave ships come very close to deserving that (only the end result of “run off” needs to be “a very miserable prison”). This stuff is absolutely revolting. Human trafficking, pirates, slavery? It’s out of some fantasy novel, but it actually happens every day, all over the world, and I think the magnitude of all of it just shocked me. Here I am, in a landlocked state. None of this ever occurs to me. Never even crosses my mind. I never once look out to the horizon and think, “I wonder how many boys have been trafficked from inland parts of Thailand and are forced to work on deep sea fishing boats today?”

So, in the end, this book opened my eyes really wide to a huge swath of the world I never, ever think about. It’s sad, and hard to read at times, but Urbina’s journalistic research is stunning, and his writing is captivating. He does not shy away from hard topics, yet he manages to balance this with the fortitude and will of the human spirit. It did not leave me with much hope, honestly, but it did leave me feeling like this needs to be a must-read book for anyone who has any concern over human rights and/or environmental issues. This is one of those books that can, and needs to, start a conversation.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. A little less detail than the NY Times stories, but with a little more perspective. There is fantastic scope. Urbina's strength is in the (incredible) reporting, and not on describing the process of reporting. Still, the brief personal asides do add something to the book that wasn't in the NY Times, at least as far as I remember.

> Fines for the captain or insurers can run up to $50,000 per stowaway for arriving in port with them. Such costs typically doubled if cargo delays were involved. … In the two years after my New York Times story about him was published in 2015, he stowed away from Cape Town three more times, ending up twice in Senegal and once in Madagascar. He told me that each time captains discovered him on board, the shipowners paid him $1,000 to get off their vessels. This sum was enough to keep him afloat for half a year, he added.

> If he can get private access to the engine room, Hardberger carries a glass vial of magnetic powder to sprinkle on the hull where the ship’s original or "build" name has often been pried off. The shadow of the name still shows up because welding it off changes the metal's valence,

> Of all the evil things I saw while reporting for this book, the karaoke bars in Ranong were perhaps the most sinister. Not only did these brokers and bar owners use one type of trafficked migrant to entrap another type of trafficked migrant, but the sex workers and their indebted clients were both, quite often, children.

> A grown whale can scrape all the fish from a five-mile line in under an hour. To avoid snaring their own mouths, the whales bite off the fish just below the hooks. Sometimes all that's left behind, he said, are fish lips dangling from the lines. More experienced whales bite the line, shaking loose the fish so they can eat them whole.

> Purwanto said that even if there were violations, it didn't matter—he needed the job, so he would not say anything more. There was nothing else for him back in Indonesia, he said. "This is the best we can get."