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Flags of convenience, a tool developed by the modern maritime business to circumvent Western labor and tax regulations through international vessel registration, pose a significant risk to the well-being of global seafarer labor and contribute to the decline in prominence of American Merchant Mariners. When an American-owned vessel is outsourced via a flag of convenience, the owner is no longer required to follow American labor laws or pay American taxes, and this motivation is one of the most frequent reasons for the action. Often ignored by business leaders seeking to lower their operating costs, the seafarer suffers the most under a legal system chosen by his employer when he or she registers the vessel. While little attention is paid to this situation by the popular global labor movements, the issue touches all consumers, as we are end users of shipping every time we purchase a foreign-sourced item in a store. As we will see, globalization itself was made by possible by open registry shipping, and open registry shipping was a self-inflicted wound on the industry. Fla