The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two Marine Corps pilots Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. after the pair were forced to eject from their F/A-18D Hornet approximately 35-miles off the coast of St. Helena Sound, South Carolina.

A major earthquake and at least two very strong aftershocks struck in the Libertador O'Higgins region of Chile this morning (3/11). The USGS recorded the magnitude of the first quake at 7.2, and the others at 6.9 and 6.0. All three occurred between 55 and 75 miles west of the regional capital Rancagua, and approximately 80 to 95 miles southwest of the national capital of Santiago.

On Monday, March 8, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood formally released to Congress and to the public the "Blue Ribbon" Panel Report on the U.S Merchant Marine Academy. The report, commissioned in May 2009, examines the current U.S. Merchant Marine Academy facilities and provides advice to the Maritime Administration on the priority of future capital projects.

Last Saturday (3/6) federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's San Diego Maritime Unified Command arrested four Mexican citizens and seized over a ton of pot on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Los Angeles.

The smugglers had been making their way from Mexico to southern California in a panga when they ran out of fuel and beached their boat on Santa Rosa. A U.S. Navy helicopter spotted the men and U.S. Customs and Border Protection marine interdiction agents made the arrest and seizure.

A 24-hour general strike in Greece on Thursday (3/11) is expected to seriously disrupt all forms of transportation including rail, sea and air.

The work stoppage, which begins at midnight Wednesday, will also shutdown most government offices and schools, and force hospitals to operate with emergency staffing only.

Suspected Somali pirates have hijacked a Kenyan-flagged fishing boat with 16 crewmembers. A spokesperson for the European Union's Atalanta anti-piracy naval mission told AFP that this vessel might be used as a "mother ship" from which pirates could launch their assaults.

Some pirate gangs are likely looking for new "mother ships" given that the French navy recently seized four of them.

President Obama plans to nominate Major General Robert A. Harding, U.S. Army (Retired), to head up the Transportation Security Administration.

The President's first nominee, Erroll Southers, withdrew from contention after Senate Republicans raised concerns he would try to unionize TSA's workforce.

Americans mainly associate TSA with airport security, but the agency is responsible for protecting the nation's entire transportation system including sea ports, railroads, highways and pipelines