ALERT No/little traffic in Persian Gulf/Gulf of Oman?

[CGTech]

This is interesting. Found this on another forum, a live Google map showing all shipping traffic worldwide. Now, with 40-odd % of the worlds oil being shipped thru this area, you would think there would be more traffic...? Unless something is up? Thoughts everyone?

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?centerx=30

 

[Rattlehead]

Neat site!

Will monitor it.

 

[blueridge]

The Calm...

 

[changed]

Martin Luther King holiday

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

It's a blackout.

There must be SOME ships there. Bad weather?

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[LtPiper]

What a cool site. I wonder though what % of ships it does track though.

 

[CGTech]

What a cool site. I wonder though what % of ships it does track though.

Looks like they have to be in range of the coastal recievers... would still think it would show more tankers though, in that area

"The MarineTraffic system does not cover all the seas of the world, but only specific coastal areas where a land-based AIS receiver is installed. Vessels appearing on the live map are equipped with an operational AIS transponder and they sail within the reception range of an AIS receiver installed on the land. Possible reasons for a vessel's position not picked up and displayed on the live map are:
- The vessel is not equipped with an AIS transponder or the transponder is not operational or the transponder is not properly working
- The vessel sails in an area where no nearby AIS receiving station exists/> - Th- The transmission power of the vessel's AIS transponder is not enough in order for a land-based station to receive the signals. This depends on the type of the transponder, the type and the height of the antenna and the quality of the cabling
- Especially for vessels equipped with a Class-B AIS transponder, the transmission power of AIS signals is much lower than the power of a Class-A transponder and therefore the reception range in much more restricted
- The AIS transponder of the vessel is not configured to transmit the correct information (e.g. MMSI number, ship's name etc.)"

 

[timbo]

The joint exercise of USA/Israel has been cancelled. Or just postponed?

Or are we just in place waiting for Iran to make an overt move?

Plus we do have quite a few troops in place in Kuwait. Oh yeah in Afghanistan too. Looks like a pincer movement to me.

We are just too short here to hear the messages flying around the globe.

 

[Ben Sunday]

The joint exercise of USA/Israel has been cancelled. Or just postponed?

Or are we just in place waiting for Iran to make an overt move?

Plus we do have quite a few troops in place in Kuwait. Oh yeah in Afghanistan too. Looks like a pincer movement to me.

We are just too short here to hear the messages flying around the globe.

Excellent assessment. We do need to consider 'the BIG picture', not just the tankers noted by observers. As noted in a subtle manner by Timbo, the back story is driving the rest of the story (Israeli drills, US troop deployed in the area, security related tension, etc).

tick tick tick...

 

[Countrymouse]

I've spent the last 45 minutes on that site---it is WAY cool!

But I don't think it shows EVERY ship--just ships with a certain type of marker that would interact with this computer program and site. The reason I think that is, it showed very little ship activity at some local US harbors and ports, that I know would have more than that.

But it's still a NEAT site---thanks!

 

[The Cub]

I just scanned the ports of Houston and Galveston......doesn't show a single vessel.

No way.

 

[CGTech]

well, this pic i just took from the site, clearly shows a lot more traffice in the gulf. pretty busy right now!