At anchor today in Stumptown

[darkemeralds]

The last few ships I've seen at the grain elevator by the Steel Bridge have been duds. No piracy, no accidents, no near-misses in the North Sea. Today's ship, the Zhonghai, a Panamax bulk carrier under the Panamanian flag, is, sadly, no exception.

It's big, it's pale blue, it needs a paint job, and the name Zhonghai (or Zhong Hai) is surprisingly common--for ships, people and companies. I can't quite figure out what it means. Maybe "loyal sea"? (kernelm might know...)

Blah-blah through Gibraltar, as every cargo ship on the planet seems to do eventually. Blah-blah Long Beach two weeks ago, blah-blah San Francisco last week...

I assume Zhonghai spent the days between last Sunday and today making a tiny northbound silhouette on the horizon off the West Coast. Now it's cozying up to the Steel Bridge and taking grain.

So, nothing much to say. But check out what my googling did turn up: This mesmerizing application from San Francisco. Give it a couple of seconds to load.

Recommended for map geeks and ship geeks alike, it's the coolest thing I've seen online all day.

Edited on 2008-04-24 to add: In the time since I wrote this journal, I've been studying a little Mandarin. It now seems fairly obvious to me, though I didn't have any means at the time of noting the Chinese characters on the ship's side under the Pinyin version of the name, that Zhong Hai was probably 中海, meaning China Sea.

Comments

[vampirefan.livejournal.com]

that map is awesome! the little arrows are messmerising...

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

I know! I stared and stared. I loved the little high-speed passenger boats (ferries, I would imagine) zipping across the bay.