Notes from the documentary Freightened:The Real Price of Shipping. 90% of goods produced or extracted on earth transit by sea. Maersk triple E cargo ship: 400m long, 18000 containers, aligned, that would be 120km It's possible to send fish from Scotland to china for them to be processed, then frozen in Scotland and sold as Scottish fish.  One of the company of Frederiksen transport 50% of the world pétrole.  Once in international water, a ship follows the rule of the country it has as a flag (panama 1, Liberia 2, Marshall Islands 3, Bahamas, Mongolia, Bolivia (that don't even have a coast)). Useful for minimum wage, reduced charges, taxes, cheap labor.  40% of labor are from the Philippines. One third of their salary goes to the government though.  About 20 employees on a boat, without access to internet, working 72h a week. 60% of accidents are due to a human error.  Sailor is the second most dangerous job in the world after fisherman. One accident every 3days, 2000 deaths per year. Species can be carried from one harbor to another since ships pump/release a lot of water for their stability. Invasive species can be really damaging.  Ships are noisy, one third of cétacé suffer from hearing problems now.  A ship consume up to 200tonnes of fuel per day, it's cheap low quality fuel, it can be anything that can burn (from gas to coal). It releases a lot of metals and sulfur.  One boat releases as much sulfur as 50million cars. The 20biggest ship pollute more than all the cars in the world. But there is 60000 cargo ships in the world. Around Newyark harbor every fourth person have asthma.  The maritime transportation is responsible for 4% of greenhouse gases. Less ice at the arctic, more sea paths open then in the north.  Panama and Liberia are main founders of the united nation International Maritime Office. No big legislations end up being passed.  Beaches where boats are abandoned:near Karachi, Pakistan, near Chittagong, Bangladesh.  Ressource: Official Freightened Website