More than 55,000 merchant ships travel the seas today. This includes cargo ships, container ships, tankers and ferries. It doesn’t include the many thousands of fishing boats or cruise ships.
Singapore Harbour. Photo from Anek Soowannaphoom
Ships carry satellite trackers. You can see where they all are on websites like like myshiptracking.com.
Sadly, with so many vessels out there, disasters and accidents happen. It’s vital we learn from these and work to make shipping safer and more sustainable.