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Speed Log

Speed logs measure the speed of a ship and are also known as ship logs. There are two ways of measuring the speed. The first one is with reference to water which flows by the hull, called water reference speed. The second one is in reference to the seabed and is called ground reference speed. In the age of sailing, they already used logs to measure the speed. Thus, they would tie a rope around a log, put several knots in and throw it overboard. The speed was measured by the total number of knots passing by during a specific time span. Today's versions are electromagnetic logs (EM logs), doppler logs or ultra speed sensors.