Maritime transport today plays a vital role in supporting the logistics of the global economy, and its importance continues to rise. As nations grapple with rapidly rising demand for food and energy, they are increasingly taking to the seas to develop their natural resources. Meanwhile, sea lanes and surrounding ocean areas face the threats of piracy and maritime terrorist acts, while states engage more frequently in disputes over the island territories and boundaries of sea areas under their control with an eye on the biological and nonbiological resources they contain. And maritime actors are focused ever more on opening new routes through the Arctic Ocean made available by global warming.

In order to continue to develop as a maritime state in this fluid and dynamic environment, Japan must gather a broad range of ocean-related information and analyze and evaluate it appropriately. To this end, we collect information, carry out analysis, and broadcast its findings to make them available as the basis for widespread discussion. In this way we aim to contribute to the sustainable, stable use of the world's seas and to the development of Japan.