Shipping – indispensable to the world!
Today is World Maritime Day – a day set aside to celebrate the industry which quietly and efficiently, day and night, keeps the people of the world fed, clothed and housed. Also providing us with all those little ‘extra’ we cannot now do without.
The above views include our recent investigator’s photographs of the FLYING FOAM a schooner wrecked near Deganwy in 1936 (top left) and a foreshore hulk at Sandy Haven, Pembrokeshire (bottom right), and more historic views from our collections such as ships being loaded with coal (top right) and pleasure boats in Tenby harbour (bottom left).
The international nature of our maritime heritage is reflected in shipping losses recorded in the National Monuments Record of Wales – nearly 6,000 wrecks in the ownership of at least 17 nations.
Our photographic collections have many captured moments showing these ocean voyagers in port and also in their last resting places. So we have gathered together a selection in a special online gallery to celebrate today.
The size of today’s ships can be truly staggering. For example, the world’s largest container ships, MSC OSCAR and CSCL GLOBE, can carry over 19,000 containers or 39,000 cars. Others can carry enough grain to feed nearly four million people for a month; enough oil to heat an entire city for a year, or carry enough finished goods to fill nearly 20,000 articulated lorries.
For many centuries past, ships were the most complex ‘machines’ created by man, and they continue to feature amongst engineering wonders of the modern world!
Analysis of non-British owned shipping losses contained in National Monuments Record of Wales confirms the international nature of our maritime connections.
Our collections also include underwater video footage of shipwreck sites, for example the ROYAL CHARTER lost off Moelfre in October 1859: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/476122
09/29/2016
Hi Marc, Thanks for your comment. We are currently reviewing how our website works in terms of accessibility, and we will feedback your comments to help to inform our decisions about the use of graphics on the website.
I would really like to see this ‘pie graph’ with the names of the Nations on it, rather than it being colour coded. The colours are difficult to match & if you are colour blind they’re useless.