Hakai Magazine:

Signs and symbols on the sides of ships tell stories about an industry few outsiders understand.

Those who work in ports or on the water have a good view of the proceedings; tugs may have the best view of all. These photos get you closer to ships than most people will ever be.

“The sides of ships have their own sort of beauty,” says photographer David Webster Smith, who is also a San Francisco tugboat engineer. “As soon as I can, I get my camera out.”

I’ve lived in port cities most of my life and, while I’ve seen many of these markings on container ships, I never really paid much attention or knew what they represented. Turns out, they are pretty interesting.