Article; Waiting at Anchor https://thebaffler.com/salvos/waiting-at-anchor-khalili
Most abandoned ships fly flags of convenience. Since the loosening of the regulations around the offshore registration of shipping companies and ships themselves in the 1960s and 1970s, firms are frequently incorporated in offshore secrecy jurisdictions that hide their ownership structures. Even if a shipping company is listed in the country where the owners reside, that company can own or charter ships flagged to—or registered in—a country which has no relationship to the country of the ship’s owners or the nationality of its seafarers. The regulations of such open registries grant shipowners much leeway in their adherence to labor or environmental regulations.