Comprehensive earth and sand control is a term that is slowly coming to be better known. However, its true meaning is not widely understood. The term itself gained usage and raised expectations, but there remain many issues concerning not only administrative decisions, but also phenomena to be explained and necessary technologies to be developed. In this article on comprehensive earth and sand control I offer my current thoughts concerning what perspective we should proceed from and how, as well as on possible future developments.

This summer the shocking news was reported of Russia planting its national flag on the seabed of the North Pole at a depth of 4,261 meters. According to a report from the United States Geological Survey, the continental shelf along the coast of the Arctic Sea contains one fourth of the world's energy deposits. Heated battles are now beginning among the coastal countries for the rights to such wealth that the EEZ would provide.

Maritime transport is the lifeline of a country, which makes the explicit commitment for the "...securing of Japanese vessels, [and] raising and securing seafarers..." in Japan's Basic Ocean Law (Article 20) especially heartening. If this combination of new legislation and the introduction of the Tonnage Standard Tax Policy are implemented, Japan's maritime transport will finally have acquired the conditions necessary to compete internationally.