With all the years of studies and analyses showing the benefits of short sea shipping on America's 96,000 miles of coastline and 22,000 miles of inland waterways, there is still no federal policy on development of America's Marine Highway. In fact, the Administration has tabled discussions about maritime initiatives until 2017, which essentially means maritime policies will wait until the next administration takes office.

The cost of Somali piracy to the global economy has declined by 12.5 percent since 2011 as attacks fell sharply, a survey showed, but the cost of armed guards to protect ships soared. The annual report by the Oceans Beyond Piracy advocacy group estimated the cost of piracy at $5.7bn to 6.1bn in 2012.