In the strongest terms possible, defense and diplomatic leaders have urged the U.S. Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta along with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All three urged the committee to approve the treaty.

U.S. TRANSCOM Commanding General William Fraser III said maintaining a strong domestic maritime industry is critical to the defending the homeland, describing the sector as the "fourth arm of defense." The Air Force General's remarks came at a National Maritime Day celebration at the Washington Navy Yard.

Despite the St. Lawrence Seaway being a seasonal inland waterway, the maritime route provides an essential transportation service insofar as the economical movement of bulk freight is concerned. While extended length ships of 1200-feet sail the Upper Great Lakes of Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron and Erie, only Seaway-max ships of 600-feet length sail into Lake Ontario.

Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, who transformed his Danish family shipping business into the world's biggest container shipping company, has died at the age of 98.

Ten ships were hijacked by Somali pirates in March, making this the most attacks in one month since December 2010. Four of the seized ships were used to make more attacks, rather than the usual holding for ransom acts. Maritime security experts believe that pirate groups will be encouraged by the latest hijackings and will be moved on organizing more attacks over the next several weeks.

An important series of guidelines to support the uniform implementation of mandatory measures to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping was adopted by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), when it met for its 63rd session from Feb. 27 to March 2, 2012, at IMO Headquarters in London, paving the way for the regulations to be smoothly and uniformly implemented by Administrations and industry.