The Outlaw Sea
The open ocean--that vast expanse of international waters--spreads across three-fourths of the globe. It is a place of storms and danger, both natural and manmade. And at a time when every last patch of land is claimed by one government or another, it is a place that remains radically free. With typically understated lyricism, William Langewiesche explores this ocean world and the enterprises--licit and illicit--that flourish in the privacy afforded by its horizons. But its efficiencies are accompanied by global problems--shipwrecks and pollution, the hard lives and deaths of the crews of the gargantuan ships, and the growth of two pathogens: a modern and sophisticated strain of piracy and its close cousin, the maritime form of the new stateless terrorism. This is the outlaw sea that Langewiesche brings startlingly into view. The ocean is our world, he reminds us, and it is wild.
Stats for nerds
7recommend
10mentions
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2018–2026years
70% recommend30% neutral
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What Hacker News says
- "The Outlaw Sea" is a book about the long history of the complexity of responsibility, ownership, in international shipping and the ships themselves. It's very good, it should be on the HN standard reading list, much like _The Box_.
I'm only interested in comments here from people who have an understanding of the complex world of outsourcing responsibility.
TL;DR: International cooperation isn't at a level where ANY country/bloc can have an impact on how their own waste is disposed of. The idea that magically that will happen with clothing is an admission of ignorance of this fact in decades old industries.
We need more and stronger international laws. The opposite of the current US administration's influence.
- Funny - I thought that must be a misspelling of the book by William Langewiesche, "The Outlaw Sea", which I have read and is quite good. I'll have to check out the other one.
- There's a slightly older book on the same topic
The Outlaw Sea: https://www.amazon.com/Outlaw-Sea-World-Freedom-Chaos/dp/086...
It's a pretty good look into the world of international sea travel as well. It even gets into the ship-breaking industry as well.
- His book The Outlaw Sea is also a great read if you enjoyed this article and might find nautical incidents equally interesting.
- Langewiesche is an excellent writer and journalist. The Outlaw Sea is a brilliant compilation of these articles.
- My understanding is that this book is still basically the bible of aviation.
Of additional potential interest to smart folks who like to read is the fact that the author's son is of note as well; he's written a lot of really great long-form journalism, often but not exclusively about aviation as well, both in high-profile magazines and in book form. He's on the short list of authors whom I read automatically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Langewiesche
Seek out "The Crash of EgyptAir 990," which ran in the New York Review of Books in 2002. It's STELLAR, but then his work across the board is especially solid.
Of his books, I think my favorites are "Inside the Sky," about flight, and "The Outlaw Sea," about shipping. "The Atomic Bazaar" is also great, if terrifying.
