Shipmap.org

This is weirdly beautiful, like the maps of undersea internet cables that frequently come up here as well. You can clearly see: 1) oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf from the Middle East to China 2) ships waiting to get through the Panama and Suez Canals 3) why people talk about “shipping lanes”. There are some obvious tracks everyone follows, because it’s the cheapest way from A to B (e.g. cape of good hope to straight of malacca). 4)…

There are pirates (thieves, but I like Pirate better?) whom were renting luxury boats in the Mediterranean, and stealing them. They would fly to Europe, and dress like rich fancy boys. They would then rent the ships for vacation. They would take the transponder off the luxury vessel, and put it on a toy boat. The owner would check on his vessel, and it all looked fine. Meanwhile, the thieves would have the boat in Russia in a few days…

This is a really satisfying animation to watch. The thick, bunched-together lines of ships all turning the corner at some cape or strait really show you how the cargo is moving. Does anyone else understand the UI? It does not make sense to me: the giant "play" button blocking the middle of the display seems not to play, but to stop playing, replacing the moving-dot animation with colored streaks. Clicking it again causes the map to zoom out! Then I…