I've always liked looking at maps, and now there is the ability to view these as satellite images.
Here is a small section of
hilifta's working domain:-
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=-36.842385...5&z=20&l=0&m=s
You can pan around it (and zoom it), however I keep seeing things that raise questions (which I'm sure that
hilifta can answer).
First, I can see a truck parked in a lane close to the side of a ship:-
Do the dockside cranes lift containers from/to road vehicles - or do the containers have to be marshalled by the straddle cranes?
I imagine that the reach of the dockside cranes is limited (apart from being able to reach the far side of a ship) such that they can only 'drop' the containers between the span of their support 'legs'.
Do they handle containers singly or maybe as a stack of three or four?
Is it then up to the straddles to disperse them to wherever they are to be stacked?
How long are containers 'stored'? (I imagine that it takes a while to assemble the full complement before the arrival of a ship, but afterwards the land transport waiting to collect them might be keen to remove them as soon as possible).
Do the straddles assemble a 'pool' of containers within reach of the dockside crane(s) when a ship is due for collection? - or are all ships needing unloading before reloading? There seems to be stacks of containers at the south end of the quay.
I can see
two dockside cranes working on the ship alongside. Is that the maximum (or does it depend on the length of the ship)?
Are there different areas for trucks delivering and for trucks collecting? (or can a truck wait and collect a container after delivering?)
The possible permutations would seem to cause confusion. Can the system handle delivery and collection simultaneously?
I'm sure there'll be more questions, but that's probably enough to be going on with . . .