The New “Waterways and Sea Canals” Strategy in the “Continent of Asia” and Its Implications on the Global Map

This paper reviews a strategic scientific proposal to dig and construct three navigable sea lanes linking isolated inland seas and blocked side bays and linking it with the open seas, to facilitate the movement of free trade and international navigation, and to break the captivity of geographically isolated environments, and to give a strategic advantage to some areas and sectors that are neglected politically, socially, economically and environmentally, and to adopt the strategy of establishing a marine channel between the “Caspian Sea” and the “Black Sea” through the “lands belonging to Russia”. On digging a navigational canal at the lowest cost in a plain area within the territory of Russia, with a length of approximately 600 kilometers (616 km), starting from the nearest bay in the Caspian Sea, passing near the city of “Pyatigorsk” to the city of “Sochi” on the Black Sea, while it comes: -The strategy of the waterway and the sea channel between the “Caspian Sea” and the “Arabian Gulf” through the “lands belonging to Iran” by digging and cutting a path in the rocks with a width of 100 meters and a length of about 700 kilometers, and at a time rate of less than 10 years, and this project will liberate all countries in the Caspian Sea, and the study concludes with the strategy of the navigational channel between the “Arabian Gulf” and the “Mediterranean Sea” through the two countries of “Iraq-Syria”, with a length of about 1350 km, and the world will benefit in the security, commercial and political fields.

Views from Maritime Education and Training on the Full Implementation of 2010 STCW Amendments

The full review of The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers （the STCW Convention） has been accomplished by International Maritime Organization （IMO） and the new amendment, which is also named as Manila amendment, has been effective since 2012, with a transitional period of 2012-2017. Based on the system engineering context consisting of ＂Human, Machine and Environment＂, human factors at sea, i.e., those factors relevant to the seafarers, are consistently underlined. STCW convention is the unique but systematic international maritime legislation looking after the ＂professional competency standards＂ of seafarers. The amendment thereto is of great significance for the Maritime Education and Training （MET） systems, which should be fully understood so as to respond to it effectively. The paper analyzes major impacts brought by the amendment, with purposes to raise recommendations for MET systems to implement the amendment effectively.

China’s Maritime Public Diplomacy from the Perspective of the Maritime Community with a Shared Future

Maritime public diplomacy is needed to assist in implementing China’s maritime power strategy and joint construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.As a part of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era,China’s maritime public diplomacy follows the concept of building the maritime community with a shared future,and aims to explain China’s maritime strategy,strengthen maritime cooperation,expand the blue circle of friends,spread China’s traditional marine culture,and enhance blue soft power.Since Chinese government departments,coastal cities,central enterprises,mainstream media,and think tanks are politically reliable and can easily coordinate with each other,a"five in one"layout of maritime public diplomacy could allow them work together in the maritime field.

Gulf Region and EU’s Maritime Security Strategy:The Expanding‘Blue Border’?

The European Union(EU)and its core member states are active participants and stakeholders in the security affairs of the Gulf region.European maritime security is not only an important extension of European security in geospatial and functional areas,but also an indispensable part of Europe’s overall security strategy.However,the attention to the EU’s maritime security was distracted before 2010,while the concern for European maritime security and the Gulf region was limited to safe transit routes through the international straits and archipelagic waters of the Gulf region.With the tension in Gulf was increased by oil tanker attacks,the role of EU and its core member states as major stakeholders in Gulf maritime security affairs has been more and more important.