Volunteered Geographic Information

I find it increasingly rare that I see a Google maps mashup that really impresses me. Indeed even in light of things like the ‘I just made love’ map I’m not really that taken aback. However recently one mashup has made it through my hardened shell, the world ships map!

I don’t care who you are, basically shipping is cool. They could be amongst the largest vessels people will ever travel in, the creation of a ship is generally a huge undertaking and if completed a great achievement. Realistically they shouldn’t even work – that many tonnes of steel should sink right?

Nonetheless, the world ships map charts shipping globally, you can click on each vessel for facts and the map refreshes around every 100 seconds. Look at this screenshot of the English Channel:

Figure 1: Screen Shot of Shipping in English Channel. Source: http://marinetraffic.com/ais/