The IMDO Follow The Fleet Initiative on National Television
RTE's Nationwide programme will feature an in-depth report on the Follow The Fleet initiative of the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) this Wednesday 14th at 7pm on RTE1. The programme will show the introduction of Follow the Fleet into a school as a class project and also interview the Ship's Captains that actively contribute to the Follow the Fleet initiative.
Follow the Fleet is a web based educational website hosting a world chart which displays in real-time (or as close as possible) the position of nominated Irish flagged vessels. The idea behind the project is that students would follow or track vessels on world voyages, broadening their knowledge of the maritime & shipping industry.
Follow the Fleet was successfully launched into Irish Primary schools in November 2007 for the 2007/2008 School year and can be accessed by logging onto www.followthefleet.ie.
Our educational website is designed to complement & incorporate the Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) curriculum as set out in the primary education syllabus. Follow the Fleet 2007 has a host of features that can be utilised to convey concepts in geography, general science and history to pupils aged between seven and nine years.
Follow the Fleet provides schools with:
- A fully integrated on-line & visual teaching aid with lesson plans,
- A unique Satellite Tracker System for following nominated Merchant Ships on their exciting journeys. This system uses satellite GPS and land-based communication services to provide position and situation data displayed on a world chart,
- A real insight into the day to day life at sea, ship’s crew & equipment, commercial trade by sea and Ireland’s maritime history.
Follow The Fleet allows pupils to adopt a ship and follow it on its trade routes around the world. Follow the Fleet aims to engage school children with the workings of the Mercantile Marine and create a general awareness amongst Irish school children of the shipping industry.