the saga of the Aztec Express

The Los Angeles Times has a very interesting story on the saga of the Aztec Express, a vessel seized off the coast of Haiti. The article brings up many pertinent questions such as: what constitutes ownership, what is nationality in terms of business, and how are national laws applied in the international realm? These might seem like easy questions but in the world of shipping simple issues become complex quickly. And why is shipping important? I will continue to argue that shipping provides the foundation for the modern globalized economy. Certainly, stories like the Aztec Express are the marginal cases but these cases are still pretty amazing.