On June 20, 2014, the White House released the United States Counter Piracy and Maritime Security Action Plan. The White House press release explains that this new maritime security and piracy plan “provides clear strategic guidance for counter-piracy efforts and outlines that the United States will use all appropriate instruments of national power to repress piracy and related maritime crimes.”The Goal and Vision of the PlanThe vision of anti-piracy security plan is increasingly safe seas with...

There are 15 people facing charges for the South Korean ferry sinking that killed over 300 people (mostly children and teenagers) last April. The charges range from homicide to negligence. The defendants’ counselors are building a defense that essentially attempts to blame the deaths on the Korean Coast Guard.Defenses against Korean Ferry ChargesThe majority of the charges involve the fact that captain and crew failed to take steps to rescue the occupants. The captain and crew jumped ship and...

Legislators and stakeholders are struggling to find a workable solution for how to protect the economy and ecosystem from Asian carp that may invade the Great Lakes.Asian Carp Are Making Their Way to the Great LakesAsian carp, a non-native species that can grow up to 100 pounds each and has no natural predators in the Great Lakes, can wipe out entire species of fish by consuming all the available plankton. The United States Department of Fish and Wildlife introduced the species in lakes in the...

Russia has been busy making plans to stock up on specialized submarine warships. They are making an effort to resurrect their submarine fleet, creating two new classes of submarines: the Borei and the Yasen.What are they up to, and should we be concerned?Russia’s New Top-of-the-Line Submarine: BoreiRussia is the process of scrapping its Typhoon submarine vessels and building more sophisticated (and deadlier) Borei- and Yasen-class submarines.Borei (meaning ‘North Wind’) submarinesare much...