Category "Community"

Each month, we announce an update on how we extended our terrestrial AIS coverage worldwide. Become an AIS Partner and contribute to Global Maritime Transparency. Take a look at our latest achievements regarding FleetMon’s AIS station network.

In 2021, we started to put the spotlight on our passionate ship spotters. Each month, we introduce another ship spotter of FleetMon.com. In August, you’ll meet ship spotter Paul (User name: Shiphotos), a retired mariner and loyal FleetMon user from Canada.

What is your maritime background?

I’m 72 now and retired this year as a mariner. I live along the Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario in Canada and in Portland, Maine, USA.

I graduated from the Canadian Coast Guard College in 1972. Later I became Commanding Officer with CCG and also merchant ship captain before retiring. My favourite job was icebreaking, whether in the Arctic , the Great Lakes or the East Coast of Canada. My second favourite job was being a certified ice navigator on both merchant ships and mega-yachts in the Arctic.

FleetMon is sponsoring and supporting the Academic Sailing Association in Rostock since December 2019. As part of the sponsorship, FleetMon provided the sailing club with a satellite tracker, twelve AIS rescue transmitters, and two additional AIS-compatible life jackets. In the event that a crew member goes overboard, the transmitters on the life jacket send out an AIS signal that is visible to all ships in the vicinity. This makes it much easier to find the person in the water. We have been passionately following the association’s activities around its youngest sailing boat UNIVERSITAS ever since.

Recently, the UNIVERSITAS crew participated in the Rund Bornholm race during the Warnemünder Woche from 3rd to 11th July 2021. The Warnemünder Woche is an international sailing event and folk festival in the Rostock Baltic Sea resort of Warnemünde. The nine-day regatta is held off the coast of Warnemünde and counts around 2,000 sailors from up to 48 nations annually. This makes it the third largest regatta event in Germany after the Kieler Woche (Kiel Week) and the Travemünder Woche (Travemünde Week). In addition, the Warnemünder Woche is also a major cultural event, with numerous concerts and an extensive supporting program.

The 2021 edition of the long-distance regatta “Rund Bornholm” was characterized by light winds, which were quite challenging for the participants. A total of 35 yachts were at the start. The UNIVERSITAS crew kindly provided us with an experience report summarizing their impressions of the “Rund Bornholm” race.

Each month, we announce an update on how we extended our terrestrial AIS coverage worldwide. Become an AIS Partner and contribute to Global Maritime Transparency. Please have a look at our latest achievements in terms of FleetMon’s AIS receiving station network.

In 2021, we started to put the spotlight on our passionate ship spotters. Each month, we introduce another ship spotter of FleetMon.com. In June, you’ll meet ship spotter Phil (User name: gibbogibbo), a truck driver and loyal FleetMon user from the United Kingdom.

What is your maritime background?

I am 60 years old and a truck driver for a well-known supermarket chain. I live in Greater Manchester in the northwest of England. My father was born and brought up in Fleetwood which was a very busy fishing port in years gone by so as a youngster I spent a lot of time in and around the docks watching the fishing fleet departing and returning. I have always had an interest in all things relating to the sea.

They can be found on rocky cliffs or sandy shoals on land, on wave-swept reefs in the sea, and at entrances to harbors and bays. Lighthouses serve to warn mariners of dangerous shallows and perilous rocky coasts, and they help guide vessels safely into and out of harbors.

In June, we present a selection of the best lighthouse photos of the FleetMon photo community.

Welcome to the fourth edition of the FleetMon Maritime Gallery. Each month, you’ll find a special section on our blog featuring the Best Maritime Photos in a certain category. You’ll not only get to view the most popular photos being voted by our community for “Photo of the Week” and “Photo of the Month”. We also present special shots which are less popular but in the same way extraordinary.

Only 66 days until the largest annual meeting of traditional sailors and museum ships in the world takes place in FleetMon’s hometown Rostock – the Hanse Sail 2021. Each year at the beginning of August, over a million visitors come to the event to enjoy the maritime flair or take part in sailing trips. Up to 200 participating ships, together with cruise liners, ferries and ships of the Navy, shape the unmistakable events in Rostock and Warnemünde. Unfortunately, in 2020, the large maritime event was canceled due to the pandemic.

On the occasion of the Hanse Sail 2021 beginning in less than three months, we present a selection of the best sailing vessel photos in our monthly Maritime Gallery. Have fun and enjoy great vessel photography!

Each month, we communicate our new terrestrial AIS stations to you. Become an AIS Partner and contribute to Global Maritime Transparency. Please have a look at our extended AIS coverage woldwide.

In 2021, we started to put the spotlight on our passionate ship spotters. Each month, we introduce another ship spotter of FleetMon.com. In Mai, you’ll meet ship spotter Max (User name: dragonflyer11), a nautical student from Germany.

What is your maritime background?

I am 21 years old. I come from Frankfurt/Main – Germany. I have always been interested in vehicles but later ships caught all of my attention. I‘ve been onboard several inland vessels and ferries which helped me establish more and more contacts over the time. Then I worked for a year as a skipper on small sailing cutters for tourist group trips on Lake Constance in Southern Germany. At the moment, I study navigation and maritime transport in Elsfleth which is between Bremen and Bremerhaven in Northern Germany. In 2020, I went to sea for half a year on a coaster where I found many great spotting motives! My aim is to become a captain once.

Oh, how we miss those giant cruise liners arriving at and departing from the cruise terminal of Rostock Warnemünde. Did you know that Rostock’s economy is dominated by shipbuilding, tourism and navigation? 119 cruise liners visited the port of Rostock in 2019. In contrast to 2020, when only 11 cruise liners entered the cruise terminal of Rostock Warnemünde.  The pandemic has been hitting the cruise industry hard and prevented most cruise liners to travel the Seven Seas. 

Welcome to the second edition of the FleetMon Maritime Gallery. Each month, you’ll find a special section on our blog featuring the Best Maritime Photos in a certain category. You’ll not only get to view the most popular photos being voted by our community for “Photo of the Week” and “Photo of the Month”. We also present special shots which are less popular but in the same way extraordinary.

In April, we present a selection of the best cruise liner photos in our monthly Maritime Gallery. All cruise fans will love that. Have fun and enjoy great vessel photography!