When you start "Ships" you will be looking at this screen. By default you are in control of a closed river barge located at "Waal haven Noord" in the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This location is choosen because Rotterdam is one of worlds largest ports and is shown in great detail in Google Earth. You are looking out across the "Nieuwe Maas" river towards the city of Rotterdam. On the horizon you can see the "Euro mast" tower. From this vantage point you can see some of the other ships you can sail on in "Ships" and yes, the Airship Hindenburg is also part of your fleet.

Let's go across the river towards the "Euro Mast" and check out some of your other boats. In case you were wondering, that large cruise ship is indeed the huge Queen Mary 2 and you get to take it out of Rotterdam later. Your smallest vessel is a canal barge. A narrow boat that you can use to explore the smaller rivers and canals on this world. This smaller vessel is a bit easier to control because it doesn't have the huge inertia that the larger ships have.

Here we are tracking a river barge heading inland. It is about to pass under the "Erasmus bridge" in Rotterdam. It will follow the river Nieuwe Maas that will connect with the Rhine river. The Rhine will leads us deep into Germany past the famous castles and vinyards. In "Ships" the wake and bow wave are animated as shown in this picture.In "Head" view the camera is locked to the ship as if you were standing on it. This means you are always looking where the ship is going although you are free to look around while on board.

The smallest canal barge is cruising along the river "Maas" It leads toward the South of The Netherlands. There are some very interesting settlements on the river banks which are expecially interesting when seen from above. But that is the beauty of "Ships" because you can switch camera modes and take in the views at a leisurly pace.

Here we are deep in Germany passing the popular tourist destination Cochem where a magnificent castle is located. You can see some of those vinyards on the right hand side. In "Ships" the models are made to blend perfectly with the terrain. Can you tell, which ship is ours? Yeah, alright the incorrect shadow is giving it away.

Enough of the small stuff. Let's get right into the big nautical iron. Is there anything more magnificent than the Queen Mary 2? This passenger cruise ship is 345 meters or 1132 feet long! Her 14 decks and 10 restaurants really define it as a floating city for 2620 passengers and 1253 crew. I have no idea if the Queen Mary actually fits in this berth but I placed it there because it looks nice. Why don't you come on board and see if you can take her out to open sea. Be gentle though because the inertia will make this a difficult job. Oh... Before you go, you just must press the Fog Horn. I sampled and edited the original sound of the Queen Mary fog horn and made sure it reverbs over the landscape due to it's loudness. The Fog Horn can be heard as far as 16 kilometers (10 miles) away. An interesting fact is that the Fog Horn was transferred from her older sister, the Queen Mary 1

We made it across the ocean. A quick measurement on Google Earth shows it is about 3333 Nautical miles to travel between Rotterdam and New York. The Queen Mary cruises at 30 Kts so it would take 111 hours or roughly 5 days to get there.  If you don't have a few days to spare, you can always double click any location on the planet and be teleported there instantly.

Here we have arrived in Manhattan, New York USA. On the right is the famous Brooklyn Bridge. This is a huge bridge spanning 486 meters (595 feet) between the two towers. At it's highest, the clearance it is 41 meters or 135 feet above the water and guess what! Nowhere near enough for the Queen Mary 2 to pass under! But why don't you go and see for yourself?

No trip to the USA is complete without a visit to San Francisco. Thankfully the Golden Gate Bridge is high enough although it doesn't leave much clearance. Since recently Google has introduced a nice animated wave effect for all of the seas and oceans. Here you can also see the water wave effect. It looks like New Zealand water because we can see the underwater part of the hull. Again, you just have to abuse the fog horn passing under this bridge. You just have to.

A photo opportunity in front of down town San Francisco. Thanks to the ever expanding building detail in Google Earth we can now enjoy city views from any angle you can imagine. The 3D buildings will push your computer to the limits due to the great detail. If things get too choppy you can always turn off the buildings by pressing "B" (Buildings) to toggle them on or off. Did I mention "F" for the fog horn? Go on...press it.

Enough leisure, it is time to get back to work. So you thought that the Queen Mary is big? Wait untill you see this puppy! The Emma Maersk is worlds largest container ship. it is capable to carry 11 thousand 20 foot containers. With a length of 397 meters (1300 foot) it is worlds longest ship, so where better to start than the mighty Container terminal on Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam. The Emma Maersk is just loaded up and is waiting for a last minute fuel top up. You can see your refuel ship in the foreground.

Here we are a little bit closer. Now that refueling ship is not a small vessel but it looks like a small dingy along side the Emma Maersk. You get to control whatever ship you want. And guess what! you are not stuck to water either. I just could not help myself and had to include a different mode of transport...

Yes, that is right we are going airborne! Included is the airship Hindenburg. This airship is famous for it's fiery end in 1937 when it burned up in a little over half a minute in Lakehust USA. Using hydrogen was dangerous but the Americans refused to sell the operator the much safer helium so they took a chance. But, Hindenburg was a luxery mode of travel and did very well for over a year before it's fatal accident. You get to enjoy the leisurly and calm mode of cruising through the air. Make sure you visit the Swiss alps and make sure to look down to see the ships shadow creep up the mountain slopes. The big yellow sign? Yeah, I want to take this software much further and for that I am looking for investors. Sorry about the advert, I just could not resist.

Still reading?

Ok, if you are still reading then you really need to go out more. Why not travel in style and look up those exotic places in the world and take your own snapshots. There are the pyramids of egypt, navigate Panama Canal, visit Marlbourough sounds in New Zealand or why not circum navigate the antarctic?

Alright then, here are some out-takes:

The Queen Mary in Central Park Manhattan New York USA. Why not see how it fit's in your back yard?

The Queen Mary 2 dwarfed by Emma Maersk. Both fighting for space in Princess Wharf in Auckland, New Zealand. Wedged in between is our little canal boat for comparison. Sadly the luxery cruis ship terminal at Pricess Wharf is actually too small for the Queen Mary 2 so when she visits she is berthed at the container terminal.

Titles

• Ships
• About Ships