Jurassic Park is American, so consequently Americans own the rights to any dinosaurs that appeared in it. Oil is from biological matter including dinosaurs, therefore Americans own that too. So really all oil is American and they were just taking back what belonged to them. Honestly China should be held accountable for stealing from the United States.
I did the USians mental gymnastics for them, they owe me.
According to the replies and down votes I got the other day, this is either fine because the shipping company plead guilty or is fine because some US private equity technically temporarily owned the ship.
My mindset is clearly not suited for understanding US policies because, to me, if any other country pulled this stunt everyone would be rightfully up in arms but because it’s the US there’s only crickets.
The headline is sensationalized. They called the shipping company and told them they weren't allowed to so they voluntarily sailed the ship to a US port.
FTA:
In April, the company operating the ship carrying the oil, Empire Navigation, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The IRCG was fined almost $2.5 million and was sentenced to three years of corporate probation. The company’s vessel, Suez Rajan Limited, transported the contraband to the US and “incurred the significant expenses associated with the vessel’s voyage to the United States,” according to the DOJ.
a ship full of empty barrels rigged with looney tunes-style traps such as an empty barrel tied to a rope that causes a large anvil to fall on whoever moves it