20 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
Mike Mullen. "Without our collective
mastery of the sea — we cannot protect
and promote free trade, we cannot help
those in peril, we cannot provide relief
from natural disaster, and we cannot
intercede when slavery, weapons of
mass destruction, terrorism, smuggling,
drugs, and piracy threaten our collective
way of life." Mullen says "Our vision
should be to extend peace through an
inter-connected community of maritime
forces that together could form a 1,000
ship Navy — a fleet-in-being, if you will
— comprised of all freedom-loving
nations, standing watch over the seas —
standing watch with each other."
While the U.S. has not suffered from
pirates near its ports, it has a major mar-
itime security challenge, monitoring and
protecting more than 1,000 harbor chan-
nels; 25,000 miles of intracoastal and
coastal waterways; more than 350 ports
and more than 3,700 passenger and
cargo terminals.
Eye on the Navy
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