This engrossing book begins with a shipwreck out at sea and a precarious rescue of only some of the crew. It illustrates the very poor condition of many freighters and the relentless push the captains put on to meet schedules regardless of the condition at sea. The wretched life of the crew is portrayed also. In this particular case, it was molasses that spilt and it was quickly absorbed into the water but oil spills are not as lucky.

Shipwrecks are not the only menace. Piracy is a very lucrative occupation especially in the south seas around Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The pirates are well-organized and use modern technology. In this account only a few men took over a fully-loaded freighter, set the crew adrift and repainted and renamed the ship for other uses after selling the present cargo. Fortunately, she was recognized under her new coat of paint by the crew of another freighter who alerted the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian authorities took it over. The original crew testified at the court hearings in Mumbai and the guilty were convicted. But not the upstairs boys and piracy continues.

The author gives an overview of maritime law and explains what international regulations are in place today. However, there are loopholes throughout and these are fully utilized. Countries make their own regulations but these can't govern the open sea. There are 40,000 enor-mous commercial tankers and smaller ships sailing the oceans with most of the commercial trade in the world and they are almost all uncontrolled.

The sinking of the ferry Estonia takes up about half the book. We are told more about the reason for sinking and the details of people trying to make their escape, successfully and unsuccessfully, than we probably want to know. It is a vivid picture, however, and certainly contributes to life at sea. The several investigations and reports about the reasons for the accident are covered in detail and illustrate the elusiveness of unearthing the truth. Overall, this section fits in with the theme of the book - the lawlessness that abounds in maritime matters.

The book closes with a description of ship breaking in India. Until the '70s ship breaking was done in Canada, U.S. and other places but it was too expensive to do it properly and countries in southeast Asia were willing to overlook regulations and risk the lives of labourers. Greenpeace has launched a campaign and other protests from the West are heard which led one Indian to tell the author "…the environmentalists and Greenpeace talk of future generations, but are least bothered about the plight of the present generation. Have they contributed anything constructive to mitigate the plight of the people living below the poverty line in developing countries?"

William Langewiesche is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He has written four other books and has been nominated several times for writing and journalism prizes.