Sailing The High Seas With Marinetraffic.com


It’s a beautiful weekend here in Santander, Spain, and my son and I can see the Hanoi and the Barbet Arrow, two giant container ships, moored in the harbor. The Finland-registered Misana, which I saw sail in from my office window, is moored out of sight in the dock beyond. The Cape Cee, a 118-meter-long Spanish vessel, left Santander a few days ago and is sailing towards the Strait of Gibraltar at 10.1 knots.

We know all this because of my kid’s latest online obsession. Marinetraffic.com combines Google Maps with an online database of ships from around the world, updating their position in real time. Zooming in on spots like the Strait of Gibraltar or the Bay of Biscay, you realize just how many ships are out there, linking far-flung economies. There are profiles of the ships with details of their registry and dimensions, and ports have their own profiles too.

Marinetraffic.com relies on voluntary registration, so some spots like the Red Sea are almost blank. With pirates hiding out in Puntland ready to swoop down on container ships, you can understand why captains on that route would be hesitant to join the website.

While incomplete, it’s a fun site that show kids an aspect of our world that we mostly take for granted. You can also use Google Maps as an educational tool. Used correctly, they can siphon some of your child’s obsession with your computer into something educational. Just don’t expect them to replace that persistent question, “Can I play video games?”

[Photo by Sean McLachlan]

Travel by freighter to the Marquesas Islands

There are some places that are just better seen by boat. If you don’t have your own sailboat or are averse to cruising on a mega-ship, you can still travel by boat around the Marquesas Islands on the Aranui 3 “Freighter to Paradise,” a real working freighter that welcomes a limited number of passengers aboard.

It sets sail from Tahiti every two weeks for a 14-day tour of the islands. There are daily stops at over a dozen remote islands, plus two full days at sea. The boat can hold up to 200 passengers and meets international safety standards. There are two bars and a swimming pool and the vessel offers standard, deluxe, and suite accommodations. All meals and wine are included in the cost of sailing.

Along with the 50 Polynesian crew and deckhands, guests onboard will visit some of the most untouched islands in the world on one of the last ships to carry both cargo and passengers. I’d say that beats a week on the Oasis of the Seas any day.

[via Urban Daddy]

Photo of the Day (9.13.09)

Take a good look at this towering iron monolith. Is it from the base of the Eiffel Tower? The scaffolding of a New York City skyscraper? It’s actually part of the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota. The city is one of the most important shipping ports on the Great Lakes, linked all the way back to the Atlantic Ocean by a series of locks and waterways. Today’s photo by Flickr user mlmartense, shows us the scaffolding of this massive bridge, which allows giant container ships to pass through below. I particularly like the perspective and angle of the shot, which transforms the structure into a kind of Great Pyramid of hulking iron.

Want your photo considered for Gadling’s Photo of the Day? Upload your best shots here.