Not to mention the cumulative years I’ve spent traveling the roads without a single iceberg in sight but somehow the Titanic finds one within a week of leaving port (and at night, no less)? Color me skeptical.
I’d imagine that they went further north back then to be closer to land and help if something happened (obviously didn’t help much in this case though)
The shipping lanes haven’t changed much. The priority is still to cross the Atlantic from the English Channel to New York in the shortest distance.
As a direct consequence of the sinking of Titanic, the International Ice Patrol was formed to keep track of ice from point of origin throughout its transit through shipping lanes. These days it’s an aerial and satellite patrol.
From random searching around it seems lanes haven’t necessarily changed (basically this route is still used) but technology helps a lot. There are definitely fewer icebergs at that location these days but despite many reddit commenters claiming none it seems there are a few icebergs that make it there: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/sites/default/files/images/iip/data/2017/20170426_NAIS65.gif
Apparently radar makes sure ships know about any icebergs well in advance, and there are also ice patrol planes and satellite tracking to make them pretty much a non-issue. Unless you’re the MV Explorer cruise ship that sunk in the Antarctic after hitting an iceberg in 2007. But that was outside of shipping lanes and monitoring areas as far as I can tell.
Not to mention the cumulative years I’ve spent traveling the roads without a single iceberg in sight but somehow the Titanic finds one within a week of leaving port (and at night, no less)? Color me skeptical.
I’ve been in the navy for 15 years. I’ve never seen an iceberg floating anywhere.
This is a genuinely good point, what are the chances of hitting an Iceberg on a trip from England to America? It has to be astronomically low, right?
For sad reasons, yes. Probably a lot lower chance than it was 100 years ago.
Has the shipping lanes changed since then?
I’d imagine that they went further north back then to be closer to land and help if something happened (obviously didn’t help much in this case though)
The shipping lanes haven’t changed much. The priority is still to cross the Atlantic from the English Channel to New York in the shortest distance.
As a direct consequence of the sinking of Titanic, the International Ice Patrol was formed to keep track of ice from point of origin throughout its transit through shipping lanes. These days it’s an aerial and satellite patrol.
From random searching around it seems lanes haven’t necessarily changed (basically this route is still used) but technology helps a lot. There are definitely fewer icebergs at that location these days but despite many reddit commenters claiming none it seems there are a few icebergs that make it there: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/sites/default/files/images/iip/data/2017/20170426_NAIS65.gif
Sinking location: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Sinking_of_the_Titanic¶ms=41_43_32_N_49_56_49_W_scale%3A5000000
Apparently radar makes sure ships know about any icebergs well in advance, and there are also ice patrol planes and satellite tracking to make them pretty much a non-issue. Unless you’re the MV Explorer cruise ship that sunk in the Antarctic after hitting an iceberg in 2007. But that was outside of shipping lanes and monitoring areas as far as I can tell.