Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

  This web site is part of an academic, open, community-based project. It is dedicated in collecting and presenting data which are exploited in research areas, such as:
- Study of marine telecommunications in respect of efficiency and propagation parameters
- Simulation of vessel movements in order to contribute to the safety of navigation and to cope with critical incidents
- Interactive information systems design
- Design of databases providing real-time information
- Statistical processing of ports traffic with applications in operational research
- Design of models for the spotting of the origin of a pollution
- Design of efficient algorithms for sea path evaluation and for determining the estimated time of ship arrivals
- Correlation of the collected information with weather data
- Cooperation with Institutes dedicated in the protection of the environment
It provides free real-time information to the public, about ship movements and ports, mainly across the coast-lines of Europe and N.America.

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

worlds largest cargo ship

The ship is named Emma Maersk. The command bridge is higher than a 10 story building and 11 rigs that can operate simultaneously.

Additional info:Country of origin - Denmark

Length - 1,302 ft

Width - 207 ft

Net cargo - 123,200 tons

Engine - 14 in-line cylinders diesel engine (110,000 BHP)

Cruise Speed - 31 mi/h

Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 ft3 container)

Crew - 13 people

First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006

Construction cost - US $145,000,000

Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year.

Brussels rent a Bike scheme

Brussels February 2007

The city of Brussels have developed an innovative bicycle rental scheme. ( www.cyclocity.be )

You put a deposit of 150 Euros on a credit card at the information terminals, this provides you with a membership card. The bike then costs 1.50 Euro for a week or any part of week. A user then pays 0.50 Euro for the first half hour then its 1 Euro for each hour after that. All charges are made to the cerdit card. There are a number of "bike stations" around the city and bikes can be taken and returned to any station. The scheme was introduced in December 2006. The website does provide maps and photographs but be warned it is in French and Flemish.