Tracking the support trucks

I know this is about as interesting as watching grass grow. But is you want to see where the Grande Roma is right now with all the support trucks and many of the race cars on board here is the link. http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/247086800/vessel:GRA...GRANDE_ROMACA9UE1MB.jpg

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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on December 20, 2013 at 11:29pm

no shit, that's no better than SPOT during the BAJA 1K,damn

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Permalink Reply by Mark Reeves on December 23, 2013 at 9:30am

Currently docked at Campana, getting pretty close to Zarate now.

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Smith on December 23, 2013 at 12:03pm

They look to be about 10 miles from the port with the unloading dock.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Horwath on December 23, 2013 at 12:16pm

Looks to be docking!

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Permalink Reply by Short Bus on December 23, 2013 at 1:29pm

Something is wrong with me because I find this ship tracking fascinating.

It looks like they may be positioning the ship to unload at a pier in Campana and not the car shipping facility up river past Zarate? If you look at the track, it made a big loop in the middle of the river before heading to the pier. The Grand Roma's loading ramp is on the starboard corner of the stern. They had to turn around so the ramp was on the correct side.

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Permalink Reply by mark roye on December 23, 2013 at 2:05pm

For anyone interested in the esoterica of this system, it's from what's known as an A.I.S. transponder. The International Maritime Organization, which is the international maritime rules body by treaty (sort of like the FIA, but for shipping) now requires all vessels over 300 tons displacement be fitted with an A.I.S. (Automated Identification System) transponder that "squawks" their I.M.O. registration number, vessel name, position, course and speed, general characteristics of the vessel (type) and whether they are carrying any inherently dangerous cargo. The system has been in place world wide for a number of years, and at sea, well away from small vessels on the coast at least, has pretty much supplanted radar for collision avoidance. When using modern digital chart displays, the A.I.S. data can be displayed directly over-top of the display of a nautical chart (map) allowing the observer to "see" exactly where the other vessel is in relation to the observer's own vessel position, and to tell at a glance the relative movements of the ships---almost like a video game. Especially useful at sea, as well as inshore in very crowded sea lanes.