If I had to guess, I'd say the native English speakers are a minority on this website as well as in the international shipping business. Yet, English has become the lingua franca in both online and "offline" world, the common working language every knows enough to get by.
It may be ignorant to expect everyone to know English, but if you're engaged in non-country-specific international business of any kind, such as contributing to an international website like ShipSpotting.com, it is equally ignorant not to rely on your own language and expect others to do the translation. Only if you are the customer, you can expect to have documents translated to your own langugage.
Although I agree that it would be nice if everyone knew more than one foreign language, personally I suck in languages. After trying to learn three foreign ones in addition to my mother tongue, I settled with English. It's better to know one language well enough to convey complex messages than the basics of three.
Thus, I agree with the administration. Let's speak English in ShipSpotting.com.
