Outlaw Ocean

Introduction

A riveting, often nail-biting journey through some of the most dangerous regions of the earth--the high seas, where lawlessness and physical risk prevail.

Overview

There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world's oceans: too big to police, and with no clear international authority, the oceans have become the setting for rampant criminality--from human trafficking and slavery to environmental crimes and piracy. Now, in The Outlaw Ocean, Ian Urbina--prize-winning reporter for The New York Times--gives us a galvanizing account of the several years he spent exploring and investigating the high seas, the industries that make use of it, and the people who make their--often criminal--living on it.

He traveled on fishing boats and freighters, visited port towns and hidden outposts. He witnessed both environmental vigilantes and transgressors in action, and faced a near-mutiny aboard a police ship conveying him to a meeting point miles from the coast. He describes pursuing employment agencies and shipowners to hold them accountable for labor abuses, and traveling with a maritime repo man.

Combining high drama, an investigative reporter's eye for detail, and a commitment to social justice, The Outlaw Ocean is both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposé of some of the most disturbing realities that lie behind fishing, shipping, and, by turn, the entire global economy.