singapore hotel: Watch the world"s ships sail Earth"s oceans in REAL TIME: Interactive map ...

Marine Traffic map lets anyone trace a vessel that has a position ‘transponder’ similar to those used by aircraft

Transponder broadcasts the ships’ position, name, course and speed allowing other vessels to avoid collisions

Vessel tracks are coloured according to type and users can zoom in to see which ships are moving in that area

Clicking on a placemark allows users to find picture of the ship as well as its speed, vessel type and destination

By

Ellie Zolfagharifard

Published:

06:16 EST, 22 May 2014

|
Updated:

09:29 EST, 22 May 2014

All over the world, majestic shipping vessels are navigating through vast oceans as they bring their valuable cargoes to port.

While their routes may seem far-flung, anyone can track their progress in real-time from the comfort of their desk using this addictive interactive map.

Developed by a group of global academics, the Marine Traffic map lets users trace a shipping vessel with a position ‘transponder’ similar to those used by aircraft.

Zoom in on the interactive map to see shipping vessels in your area…

Users can zoom in to get more details about the ship’s route and name, while zooming out provides a summary of position data. Clicking on a ship placemark allows users to receive a picture of the ship, speed, vessel type, size, draft and destination

All commercial shipping vessels over 299 gross tonnage (GT) are now required to use the system, named AIS (Automatic Identification System).

This broadcasts information such as the ships’ position, name, course and speed, allowing other vessels to avoid potentially fatal collisions.

The map relies on a community of data collectors who use a simple AIS receiver to upload data on a ship’s positions for a given port.

For instance, it’s possible to pinpoint the location of some of the ships involved in the search for the missing UK yacht the Cheeki Rafiki.

Developed by a group of global academics, the Marine Traffic map lets anyone trace a shipping vessel which a position ‘transponder’ similar to those used by aircraft. This broadcasts information such as the ships’ position, name, course and speed allowing other vessels to avoid potentially fatal collisions. Shown here are the routes of the world’s shipping vessels

A view of shipping routes around the UK. The map relies on a community of data collectors who use an AIS receiver to upload data on a ship’s positions for a given port

HOW TO USE THE INTERACTIVE MAP

Zooming in provides more details about the ship’s route and name, while zooming out provides a summary of position data.

Clicking on a ship placemark allows users to receive a picture of the ship, speed, vessel type, size, draft and destination.

Moving vessels are displayed as ship icons pointing to the specified direction they are heading.

Ships that are not moving, or moving at a speed less than 0.5 knots, anchored or moored are displayed as small squares.

Vessel icons and tracks are coloured according to whether they are a cargo, tanker or passenger ship.

Cargo vessel AM Hamburg is part of the operation and can be seen heading in a northerly direction around 1000 miles (1,600 km) east of Cape Cod.

The map also reveals how seven of the 10 biggest ports in the world are in China. The remaining three are in Singapore, the Netherlands and South Korea.

It also shows how the English Channel has become overcrowded as ships become larger, faster and more numerous.

Users can zoom in to get more details about the ship’s route and name, while zooming out provides a summary of position data.

Clicking on a ship placemark allows users to receive a picture of the ship, speed, vessel type, size, draft and destination.

Data received is uploaded in the database in real-time and immediately available on the map.

The map refreshes every 100 seconds with updated vessel positions and information if a new ship has entered the range of the search.

However, the creators said that several positions shown on map may be not continuously refreshed and could be up to an hour old.

Moving vessels are displayed as ship icons pointing to the specified direction they are heading.

The green lines show ships moving towards and away from the U.S. Busy port activity that includes tankers is shown by the red dots. The map allows you to zoom into these areas to pick specific ships and found out more details about where they came from

The map shows how the English Channel has become overcrowded as ships become larger, faster and more numerous. The tanker routes coming into London and Dover are particularly heavy with traffic as shown by the red areas

Ships that are not moving, or moving at a speed less than 0.5 knots, anchored or moored are displayed as small squares.

Vessel icons are coloured according to whether they are a cargo, tanker or passenger ship.

‘Anyone can install a VHF antenna, an AIS receiver and start immediately sending and seeing data on the map, through a PC and a simple internet connection,’ the creators said on their website.

There are additional clients for iPhone and Android users. And if you want to get notifications of what your favourite boats are doing, you can sign up for alerts and notifications.

Clicking on a ship placemark allows users to receive a picture of the ship, speed, vessel type, size, draft and destination. Data received is uploaded in the database in real time and immediately available on the map

The map refreshes every 100 seconds with updated vessel positions and information if a new ship has entered the range of the search. Shown here are shipping routes around Australia and Papua New Guinea