The
meaning with this page is to give some
tips of good "Ship spotting" places
around the world.
If you know any places where it´s good to photo ship or just to sit
down and have a look at them, send a mail (e-mail adress
here) and I will put it on to this page.
At the moment is Istanbul is the only "input".
Good places to photograph ship's in Istanbul
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At SARAYBURNU in Istanbul is a good photoplace,
with a view out over Bosporus and the Marmara
Sea. Many of the ferries is passing very near and you only need a
normal to a 200 mm tele lens to get good photos. During our last visit in this place we photographed 39 ships under 5 hours, mostly Turkish and Ukrainian, but also a lot of Maltese, Panamanian and Greek ship. Other recommended places is USKUDAR and KADIKÖY (take the ferry from Eminönu Iskelesi) or why not take a ferry trip in Bosporus from Eminönu Iskelesi up to Anadolu Kavagi the last harbour before the Black Sea and take photos during the trip (this trip take 6 hours). Another good place is the old fortress Rumeli Hisari, her is the Bosporus most narrow place, it's only 700 meter between Europe and Asia. |
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When you are in Istanbul, why not visit some of the
museums there. We will also recommend the Naval Museum in Besiktas.
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 Here is a interactive map of Gibraltar. Please note that North on the map is to the left. You can clearly see the port of Gibraltar to the west (down). Read more about Gibraltar: |
Daniel Ferro, Gibraltar give us some information
about "Shipspotting" on Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is a peninsular situated at the most southernmost
tip of Iberia with a land frontier with Spain. It is at the very entrance of
the Mediterranean Sea which exits to the Atlantic Ocean in an area known as
the Strait of Gibraltar. Over 70,000 ships pass through the strait every
year and this has made Gibraltar a very important stop for ships entering
and exiting the Mediterranean. Gibraltar has a land area of just over 2.6 sq
miles and has terrific views over the Bay of Gibraltar and the anchorage on
the east side of the Rock which is fantastic for shipspotters. On the
western side of the Rock you have the Port of Gibraltar which is divided
between the Commercial Moles on the north side and the Naval dockyard and
the Cammell Lairds shipyard on the south. A small number of ships use the
commercial port. These are mainly small cargo ships, tugs, small container
ships and a few cruise ships. If they do come into port there are excellent
public areas where photgraphing ships might mean ships being just a couple
of hundred metres away. Also all the Gibraltar harbour supply vessels, tugs
and port authority vessels are based in this area and are very busy during
the day making them very available for photgraphy. Larger ships which might
be coming into port for repairs (on the southern part of the port) mainly
use the northern entrance of the port, again being on the northern area
makes these entrances excellent for photography. Going on a southerly
direction there are many public areas to photograph ships from, this is
until you get to opposite the southern entrance. Everything south of that is
closed off at the waterfront. Ships in this southern area can be photgraphed
from the Upper Rock. The Upper Rock makes spectacular photgraphy as you can
shoot ships from a height of more than 400mtrs. Coming away from the port of
Gibraltar the Bay of Gibraltar is usually the busiest place for ships.
Gibraltar has a very competitive bunkering price which makes it very
lucrative for ship owners. Ships in the bay usually anchor very near to
Gibraltar so a lens up to 300mm is more than needed. At the tip of
Gibraltar, or Europa Point as its known the shipspotter as a view of the
Straits of Gibraltar. You can usually photogrpah ships coming into the Bay
or going to Algeciras from here as they generally go by quite close. Again a
lens of 300mm to 500mm is more than enough. Ships going through the strait
are further away and you might need the help of AIS to identify them. To the
east fo the Rock is an anchorage area where you can usually photograph ships
with a 300m to 500mm lens with ease. Again, all the east side of the Rock is
very accessible with good photography points. The best photography for the
western side of the Rock is in the morning with the sun behind you and vice
versa for the eastside. We generaly have good weather in Gibraltar. The only
downside is the famous levanter or easterly winds which hit the Rock. A huge
grey cloud hangs ontop of the Rock so the light can become poor.
Please note that the Commercial Mole is out of bounds for
anyone not connected with the port as is the Naval base and the shipyard.
Laslty if you want more ships, the Spanish port of Algeciras
is about 15mins in car. Algeciras is the main Maersk container port in the
Med and you usually get the large E class in there. It is also the main port
for ferries crossing the strait with a good mixture of spanish and moroccan
ferries using the port. There is also the small port of La Linea which is
5mins walking from Gib. There is usually no ships in this port but every now
and then you might get a ferry there being prepared for a refit. Between La
Linea and Algeciras there is a small shipyard and a refinery. The refinery
usually hosts a number of different tankers and there are good places to
photograph them.
Further along is the small port of Tarifa (about 30 mins from
the Rock by car). Again not much to photograph here except the Tarifa -
Tangiers ferry. If you have enough time in your schedule you can take a
trip to the spanish port of Ceuta on the other side of the Strait as well as
the moroccan port of Tangiers.
If anyone is thinking of making a trip to Gib to do some
shipspotting I would be very happy to show them around. Just contact me on
sfbabe_69_99@yahoo.com
regards,
Daniel Ferro
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