Naval Shipping Map is AE Flat Earth Map!

FLAT AE MAP IS USED IN SHIPPING INDUSTRY

I saw this map on a site about the Naval Shipping industry.

It is a polar-azimuthal map.

Their reason for using this is that it...

"provides a better understanding of the way the routes curve around the planet."


Sounds good, but in reality they are using the Flat Earth map because it is the correct one.

When it matters that you're able to find your way correctly, such as in shipping, they would want to use the correct map!


This map shows shipping routes from the perspective of the north pole, which falls roughly at the map’s center. Called a polar-azimuthal map.



Here's the article from their site:

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All About Naval Engineering: Nature of the Shipping Industry

http://naval-engineers.blogspot.com/2008/06/nature-of-shipping-industry.html

As relate to the needs of the maritime industry.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Nature of the Shipping Industry

Shipping is a private, highly competitive service industry. The activity of the industry is divided into several categories, namely, liner service, tramp shipping, industrial service, and tanker operation, all of which operate on certain well-established routes.


I. Trade Routes

Most of the world's shipping travels a relatively small number of major ocean routes: the North Atlantic, between Europe and eastern North America; the Mediterranean-Asian route via the Suez Canal; the Panama Canal route connecting Europe and the eastern American coasts with the western American coasts and Asia; the South African route linking Europe and America with Africa; the South American route from Europe and North America to South America; the North Pacific route linking western America with Japan and China; and the South Pacific route from western America to Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and southern Asia. The old Cape of Good Hope route pioneered by Vasco da Gama and shortened by the Suez Canal has returned to use for giant oil tankers plying between the Persian Gulf and Europe and America. Many shorter routes, including coastal routes, are heavily traveled.

 
Major Shipping Trade Routes

This map shows shipping routes from the perspective of the north pole, which falls roughly at the map’s center. Called a polar-azimuthal map, it was created by flattening the globe from the top, which provides a better understanding of the way the routes curve around the planet. Although there are hundreds of potential shipping paths across the world’s oceans, almost all ships travel on a few well-established routes. Determined by geography, economics, and historical tradition, the routes serve to connect major industrial regions to one another and to areas that produce raw materials.


II. Coastwise Shipping

Technically, coastal shipping is conducted within 32 km (within 20 mi) of the shoreline, but in practice ship lanes often extend beyond that distance, for reasons of economy and safety of operation. In the U.S., coastal shipping is conducted along the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf coasts. Under the restriction known as cabotage, the U.S. and many other nations permit only vessels registered under the national flag to engage in coastal trade. Among many small European countries cabotage does not apply, and short international voyages are common. A special feature of coastal shipping in the U.S. is the trade between the Pacific coast and the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Vessels engaged in this trade traverse the open sea and utilize the Panama Canal; however, they are covered by cabotage laws. In coastal and short-distance shipping, special-purpose ships are often employed, such as car ferries and train ferries.


III. Inland Waterways

A major part of all the world's shipping moves on inland waterways—rivers, canals, and lakes. Usually such shipping employs smaller, lighter vessels, although in some cases oceangoing ships navigate inland waterways, for example, the St. Lawrence Seaway route to the Great Lakes of North America. Containerization, lighter-aboard-ship, and barge-aboard-ship operations have facilitated the shipping of cargoes between oceangoing vessels and those of the inland waterways.


IV. Liner Services

Liner service consists of regularly scheduled shipping operations on fixed routes. Cargoes are accepted under a bill-of-lading contract issued by the ship operator to the shipper.


Competition in liner service is regulated generally by agreements, known as conferences, among the ship owners. These conferences stabilize conditions of competition and set passenger fares or freight rates for all members of the conferences. In the U.S., steamship conferences are supervised by the Federal Maritime Commission in accordance with the Shipping Act of 1916. Rate changes, modifications of agreements.

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It's very difficult to access this site now.  It will come up for about a second before it switches to an 'Error' message.

Almost like they don't want you to see this map and this information?!