[JumpCrisscross]

> the sanctions are American constructs: they dont apply on the open seas where UNCLOS matters

Technically correct. But the way these countries evade U.S. sanctions is by flying false or no flag. That, in turn, makes them vulnerable under UNCLOS's anti-piracy rules.

[master_crab]

No flag is rare because that immediately opens them to anti-piracy.

But coming back to my original point: it isn’t America’s determination that a registration is fraudulent. It is the flag state’s.

[JumpCrisscross]

> it isn’t America’s determination that a registration is fraudulent. It is the flag state’s.

Sort of. If there is no flag, it's America's determination. And in many of the seizure cases, the flag state confirmed a fraudulent registration. (I believe there was one around Venezuela falsely registered with Panama.)