Hey,

Take a container ship crossing the Atlantic right now. It's owned by a Greek shipping company. Built in South Korea. Crewed by Filipino and Ukrainian sailors. Managed from Singapore. And flying the flag of Liberia.

Has that ship ever been to Liberia? Almost certainly not.

Does Liberia have a meaningful merchant fleet of its own? No. What it has is a registry office in Dulles, Virginia.

Welcome to flags of convenience, the system that makes global trade possible, keeps costs low, and makes accountability almost impossible to pin down.