Did you know that for some time now, you can Track world’s ships sailing Earth’s oceans? Pretty new data points that show all ship traffic including traffic on high seas and Rivers and Lakes (where there are tracking devices on the ships).

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.

I have had this post for sometime in draft, but moving it out – so the story is a little old but I think it is pretty cool.

• 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 colored according to type and users can zoom in to see which ships are moving in that area
• Clicking on a place-mark allows users to find picture of the ship as well as its speed, vessel type and destination

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