Plastic Classic Forum

hey all,
I was referred to this site by Latitude 38, our local sailing rag. I have been hooked on looking at real time views of the global shipping traffic. Check out the english channel. very crowded. It is a bit like train spotting but what the heck.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/

Oh no! Another thing to soak up my time!

That's really cool. The Seajacks Kraken just left Halifax Harbour (we watched it go past Portuguese Cove and turn East, up the coast), and there it is! Very fun.

On the other hand, the German Navy left after it (a destroyer (I think) and a supply ship) - and there is no sign of them. So apparently AIS can't take the place of radar in the fog...

Thanks, Robert, even though it probably will make me even less productive...

Cheers,

Chris

Yup, it's really cool. Note that there are no ships shown anywhere near Somalia. I'll bet those guys turn their transponders off or the website has arranged to not show them to the pirates' handlers. Interesting to see that the photo imagery is simply Google Earth. Interesting to see so much nautical chart info, but none inshore in the USA.

What a way to while the day away! (I'll confess to spending no more than a cigarettes' worth, but I don't smoke so do not really know how long one lasts.)

I'll bet you'll find precious few military assets. Look at Gibraltar, or Norfolk.

I noticed the barren Somali coast. It appears only very busy ports and shipping channels are on line. No, navy boats are not showing, although I can confirm that they have them. Flying into Norfolk I often noticed a whole bunch of traffic at sea level below me on the TCAS (airborne version of the AIS) and they were all in drabby grey..... I'm sure the service has been discouraged from giving a strategic overview of our assets. I suspect it filters them out.