WILLIAM BRANGHAM:

It's easy to overlook just how dependent our lives and the entire global economy have become on shipping and the seas.

Today, several million ships carry roughly 90 percent of the world's goods. But a New York Times series shows how little we know about the lawless seas. Migrants, stowaways and fishermen disappear, often killed in accidents, or worse. There's evidence of murders taking place offshore.

And tens of thousands of workers are essentially enslaved each year. All the while, international maritime law seems wholly inadequate and few authorities ever step in.

Ian Urbina reported this series, and he joins me now.

Ian, welcome.