Recent AIS positions
View vessels that have usable coordinates in the current public snapshot, with freshness attached to each report.
Vessel details
Inspect identity, type, flag, speed, course, status and destination when those fields are present in AIS metadata.
Movement context
Use received position history and nearby ports without inventing a route through missing coverage.
Practical filters
Narrow the map by vessel class, ports, sanctions context, dark-vessel research layers and other available modes.
Find a vessel on the AIS ship map
- Open the vessel map and expand the vessel search control if it is collapsed on your phone. Enter a vessel name or MMSI. Suggestions search the loaded collection; this is not a complete registry of every vessel.
- Select the matching record and compare its MMSI, name and vessel type before interpreting the marker. Similar names can refer to different ships. A name or identity field can also be missing from an otherwise usable position report.
- Read the observation time together with speed, course and destination. A marker describes the latest received report, while destination text does not confirm a berth, arrival time or current port call.
A missing search result does not establish that a vessel is absent from the area. It may be outside the loaded collection, public receiver coverage or the current provider snapshot. Explore the port directory for geographic context; its coordinates and nearby traffic do not constitute an official arrivals board.
How the map is assembled
PocketWorld normalizes recent public AIS reports into one map model. Coordinates, timestamps and movement fields come from the current provider record. Vessel identity and destination metadata can arrive on a different message schedule, so the detail card keeps unavailable fields unknown and shows the age of the latest observation.
The displayed count is the number of vessels with usable positions in the current snapshot. It is not an estimate of all ships at sea. Receiver density, satellite relays, provider availability and each vessel's transmission behavior change the visible total.
Reading speed, course and destination
Speed over ground and course describe the latest received report. Destination and navigation status can be entered manually aboard the vessel and may be abbreviated or stale. PocketWorld presents those values as source metadata, not as a verified arrival promise.
Use limits
The map is intended for exploration, education and broad traffic context. It is not certified for navigation, collision avoidance, port operations, sanctions screening or emergency response. Operational decisions require responsible authorities and appropriate maritime systems.
Maritime map-reading guides
Choose a question below to find source-linked explanations. These guides distinguish public vessel observations from official traffic services, forecasts and historical datasets.
- Reading a US AIS vessel identity
Separate a received position, a radio identity and a ship's permanent identity.
- Finding and comparing US historical AIS data
Turn a traffic question into a reproducible area, period and counting rule.
- Reading Los Angeles port traffic without mixing metrics
A vessel location, a port call and a container volume are different observations.
- Choosing a NOAA tide, water-level or current product
Read the quantity and reference system before interpreting a coastal graph.
- Understanding gaps in a Canadian ship-tracking map
Public vessel reports are not a complete Coast Guard traffic picture.
- Reading a Canadian marine weather forecast
Match the water area, product and valid time before comparing forecasts.
- Comparing Canadian tide and water-level products
A predicted tide, a measured level and a forecast curve are not interchangeable.
- Reading Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway ship traffic
Understand the shared US–Canada waterway without inventing lock queues or arrival times.
What the vessel map can show
PocketWorld turns recent AIS messages into a geographic view of maritime activity. A vessel record can include identity, coordinates, course, speed, navigation status and a crew-entered destination. Those fields do not arrive together on every transmission, and they are not equally reliable. The interface keeps missing values unknown and exposes the latest timestamp instead of presenting an old report as a current fix.
Where coverage changes
Terrestrial AIS receivers provide the strongest public coverage near populated coasts and major ports. Open-ocean gaps are normal, and some ship classes may be absent because of equipment, regulation, privacy or provider limits. The map is useful for exploration and broad traffic awareness, but it is not a navigation instrument, a collision-avoidance system or proof of a vessel's legal status.
Regional map reference points
- Adriatic Sea
- Aegean Sea
- Algeciras Port
- Andaman Sea
- Antwerp Port
- Arabian Sea
- Baltic Sea
- Barcelona Port
- Barents Sea
- Bass Strait
- Bay of Bengal
- Bay of Biscay
- Bering Sea
- Black Sea
- Bosphorus Strait
- Busan Port
- Cape Town Port
- Caribbean Sea
- Caspian Sea
- Celebes Sea
- Chesapeake Bay
- Colombo Port
- Colon Port
- Constanta Port
- Cook Strait
- Coral Sea
- Dardanelles Strait
- Djibouti Port
- Drake Passage
- Durban Port
- East China Sea
- English Channel
- Felixstowe Port
- Gdansk Port
- Genoa Port
- Gothenburg Port
- Great Barrier Reef
- Guangzhou Port
- Gulf of Aden
- Gulf of Alaska
- Gulf of Bothnia
- Gulf of California
- Gulf of Finland
- Gulf of Guinea
- Gulf of Mexico
- Gulf of Oman
- Gulf of Thailand
- Haifa Port
- Hamburg Port
- Ho Chi Minh City Port
- Hong Kong Harbor
- Houston Port
- Hudson Bay
- Ionian Sea
- Jakarta Port
- Java Sea
- Jebel Ali Port
- Jeddah Port
- Kaohsiung Port
- Kobe Port
- Laem Chabang Port
- Lagos Port
- Le Havre Port
- Ligurian Sea
- Los Angeles / Long Beach Port
- Manila Port
- Marseille Port
- Mediterranean Sea
- Mombasa Port
- Montreal Port
- Mozambique Channel
- Mumbai Port
- New York / New Jersey Port
- Ningbo-Zhoushan Port
- North Sea
- Northwest Passage
- Norwegian Sea
- Novorossiysk Port
- Panama Canal
- Persian Gulf
- Piraeus Port
- Port Klang
- Qingdao Port
- Red Sea
- Rotterdam Port
- Santos Port
- Savannah Port
- Sea of Japan
- Sea of Okhotsk
- Shanghai Harbor
- Singapore Harbor
- South China Sea
- St. Petersburg Port
- Strait of Dover
- Strait of Gibraltar
- Strait of Hormuz
- Strait of Magellan
- Strait of Malacca
- Strait of Messina
- Strait of Sicily
- Suez Canal
- Taiwan Strait
- Tasman Sea
- Tianjin Port
- Tokyo Bay
- Tyrrhenian Sea
- Valencia Port
- Vancouver Port
- Yellow Sea
- Yokohama Port
Related tools in other languages
Maritime data sources
Vessel positions use available AIS feeds and public maritime datasets. Coastal coverage and update intervals vary by receiver network.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a vessel missing?
The vessel may be outside public receiver coverage, using a different transmission interval, blocked by a provider, or absent from the current AIS snapshot.
Is every marker current?
No. Each marker represents its latest received report. Check freshness before interpreting its location or speed as the present condition.
Does PocketWorld predict a ship's route?
Position history joins received observations. PocketWorld does not invent a route across an AIS coverage gap.