These days we probably tend to take most technology for granted, using apps on our smartphone for airline check-ins, football scores or even to find out where we are. Having said all that, I still occasionally find some app or website that amazes me….. The other day I was attempting to track a container of our wine en route to a customer across the world (in the same way that you might track a UPS parcel), when I stumbled upon a website called www.marinetraffic.com – Click on the map to see more detail.

The website shows the movement of every conceivable type of vessel on the seas and oceans around the world, but in quite astonishing detail. Firstly, you can filter the different ships (or yachts) by type, for example separating the cargo ships from the cruise liners or tankers. Then, if you want to find an individual vessel you can search by name, and not only will it give you information about the ship itself (including photo), but it will also give you the speed, heading and destination etc. It’s all pretty amazing stuff. 

They say that the English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and if you ever take a minute to visit this site you might understand why. The volume of traffic is quite staggering, looking much like a busy motorway or highway. Of course for the vast majority of people this site may have no value at all, but certainly the next time that I want to follow the shipment of one of our wines I will know where to look. Oh, and by the way, there is another site which might be of more interest to more people, with similar maps, but showing live air traffic – www.flightradar24.com 

These days we probably tend to take most technology for granted, using apps on our smartphone for airline check-ins, football scores or even to find out where we are. Having said all that, I still occasionally find some app or website that amazes me….. The other day I was attempting to track a container of our wine en route to a customer across the world (in the same way that you might track a UPS parcel), when I stumbled upon a website called www.marinetraffic.com – Click on the map to see more detail.

The website shows the movement of every conceivable type of vessel on the seas and oceans around the world, but in quite astonishing detail. Firstly, you can filter the different ships (or yachts) by type, for example separating the cargo ships from the cruise liners or tankers. Then, if you want to find an individual vessel you can search by name, and not only will it give you information about the ship itself (including photo), but it will also give you the speed, heading and destination etc. It’s all pretty amazing stuff. 

They say that the English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and if you ever take a minute to visit this site you might understand why. The volume of traffic is quite staggering, looking much like a busy motorway or highway. Of course for the vast majority of people this site may have no value at all, but certainly the next time that I want to follow the shipment of one of our wines I will know where to look. Oh, and by the way, there is another site which might be of more interest to more people, with similar maps, but showing live air traffic – www.flightradar24.com