*This blog post was initially created on 18 February 2022 by Fotini Tseroni and has now been edited and updated.

Understanding not only where the ships currently are, but also where they have been and will be, translates into more visibility and transparency on what’s happening at sea and enables significant decisions.

From essential daily business operations (such as real-time cargo or fleet tracking) to people simply following the movements of the vessels carrying their loved ones, ship tracking software is widely known and used.

But what is ship tracking and how does this system work in practice?

What is ship tracking?

As the name suggests, ship tracking is the process of monitoring the movements of commercial ships, smaller craft, and other marine vessels.

The ship tracking system is a collection of equipment that enables the display of the real-time positions of vessels on a map as well as essential information about each ship.

There are many ship tracking methods, with the most commonly used in the maritime world being the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Automatic Identification System (AIS).

While GPS is useful as a local/onboard position reporting system, the Automatic Identification System uses the GPS technology and makes the tracking information widely available. AIS transponders have their own GPS receivers built-in (separate from the vessel’s receiver) in order to acquire the vessel’s position and prepare the self-position report that will be transmitted to others via radio frequencies.

The information transmitted through the AIS includes three main sections: The positional data (such as the coordinates, speed and course of the vessel) the Static data (such as the vessel’s name, type, dimensions and IMO number), and the Voyage data (such as the destination, ETA, and current draught).

The data derived from AIS is made widely available to the public domain to improve navigational safety, efficiency and transparency. From 2004 when it was initially introduced, AIS proved to be an extremely useful tool in the maritime world and it has been utilised in various shipping applications and maritime analytics.

As per SOLAS convention, AIS exchanges data ship-to-ship and with shore-based facilities in order to help identify vessels, assist in target tracking, simplify information exchange, and provide additional information to assist situational awareness.

Today, technological advancements in the market are driven by the growing demand for ship tracking systems from end-users.

The importance of ship tracking systems

Coupled with the Internet connectivity and other information systems available, ship tracking plays a very important role.

AIS ship tracking technology evolved into an essential tool for every company or professional related to the shipping industry. Ship operators, Port agents, Suppliers, Charterers, Logistics, Shipyards, Commodity traders and many more, can be fully aware about the past, the present and the future of a vessel’s voyage.

Also, the adoption of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning in advanced vessel monitoring system software is increasing, leading to enhanced insights beyond ship tracking, used for various research and development purposes.

The benefits of ship tracking

Some of the key benefits of ship tracking are that it enables increased levels of safety, visibility and efficiency for the maritime world.

Ship tracking software is used by businesses, ports, governments, financial institutions, and others for many reasons; to keep track of ships that carry cargo between ports worldwide, to plan the most efficient voyages and optimise them, to be informed about vessels in distress and maritime emergencies, and many more.

Many businesses harness the power of ship tracking data to manage more effectively their global maritime shipping operations. All this information regarding the movements of the ships worldwide can be exported and further analysed to help monitor ship tracking patterns and predict future trading trends.

Becoming the world’s #1 ship tracking intelligence provider

MarineTraffic was launched as a passion project in 2007, and has grown to become the biggest ship tracking network in the world, trusted by millions of users worldwide. With its growing AIS Terrestrial network, fused with data from the top three satellite providers, MarineTraffic provides real-time global ship tracking information and maritime analytics.

Today, MarineTraffic AIS is the new standard in ship tracking. The recent merger of MarineTraffic and FleetMon stations, through a joint acquisition by Kpler, has resulted in a groundbreaking new network consolidation. It has created the industry’s most comprehensive and accurate source of vessel data.

“By integrating both networks, we have effectively doubled our reach, resulting in data access from more than 6250 community-based stations globally, and growing,” said Alex Charvalias, Logistics and AIS Director at Kpler.

Currently, MarineTraffic AIS has the world’s largest AIS network and most comprehensive ocean visibility, recording over 1 billion AIS positions daily.