In the
Lent Term, Year 8 will be exploring a unit called
'The Geography of My Stuff'.
Our 'stuff' generally arrives into the UK / EU on a large cargo ship operated by shipping companies such as
Maersk. You often see containers with this company's logo in a siding down at
Ely railway station.
AIS is the system which is fitted to all cargo ships, and automatically broadcasts the ship's position, unless it would be dangerous for it to do so, for example in waters patrolled by Somalian pirates.
We
explored the journey of the Yong Sheng recently. This managed to travel through the Arctic. This site would allow you to see where it is now, or how many other vessels are currently sailing in that area (probably not many as it's winter in the Arctic...)
The largest container ship currently (although others are being built) is the
Emma Maersk which made the news a few years ago, as
'the ship that was bringing our Christmas'....
The website (and various apps that do similar things) allow you to track ships...
Keep an eye on a particular ship and see where it moves between, and where it docks...
More on this next term...
