What is AIS and what is it designed to do?

AIS stands for Automatic Identification of System and is officially classed as being primarily an aid to navigation rather than a vessel tracking system. It was designed with the aim of improving vessel safety by increasing the situational awareness of nearby traffic, and with a secondary function of allowing the monitoring of traffic by vessel traffic systems, port authorities and other government agencies. It is this secondary monitoring function which has been further developed and exploited to provide the global live ship tracking systems in use today.

Our AIS ship tracker works by allowing individual vessels to automatically broadcast a regularly updated series of structured messages containing navigation and identity information to other vessels in their immediate vicinity.

Where does AIS cover?

AIS equipment is in use globally not just on the high seas, but also extensively on rivers, lakes and inland waterways.

What is the difference between satellite and terrestrial AIS monitoring?

The best 24/7 AIS coverage comes from terrestrial AIS receivers and is based on their radio line of sight. This, in turn, is dependent on both the height of the transmitting and receiving AIS aerials but typically extends out to around 30 nautical miles for larger vessels. Beyond this range, a weather-based phenomenon known as tropospheric ducting often provides enhanced reception thereby extending coverage by 10’s or even sometimes 100’s of miles. This effect is however highly directional, variable in strength and seasonal being more prevalent in warmer weather, it, therefore, cannot be relied on alone. For areas outside the coverage of terrestrial land-based antennas most AIS monitoring is provided by satellite-based AIS receivers which cover the whole globe from pole to pole, this provides in general excellent coverage for vessels in mid ocean, and the southern hemisphere in general.

Who is responsible for AIS standards and their enforcement?

The legal requirements and policies for the use of AIS class A were formulated by the International Maritime Organisation, and form part of SOLAS Chapter V - Safety of Navigation - Regulation 19 - Carriage requirements for shipborne navigational systems and equipment. The technical requirements of the AIS system are specified by The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and are laid out chiefly in their publication. Recommendation ITU-R M.1371-5(02/2014) - Technical characteristics for an automatic identification system using time division multiple access in the VHF maritime mobile frequency band. Within territorial waters enforcement of AIS standards, the accuracy of transmissions, and any special local requirements for AIS fitment and use is the responsibility of the individual nation states.

AIS Tracking - Ship Tracker for Maritime Traffic

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Real-Time Ship Monitoring and Real-Time Intelligence for Vessel Activity

What if you could pinpoint a ship’s location down to the minute with one tool?

The industry's first online software for live ship tracking, AISLive delivers updated movements for 130,000+ ships and vessels every 60 seconds, including activity at 16,000+ ports and terminals worldwide. Available through three different subscription levels, AISLive Premium includes access to terrestrial and satellite ship movements and to the Sea-web Ports module for greater visibility into your fleet’s deep sea and offshore movements. All AISLive subscriptions offer a user-friendly mapping tool and 197 search filters. Find out how you can connect your port or area to the AISLive, our AIS ship tracker network

You can learn more about AISLive in the following languages: Chinese and Korean.

Marine equipment companies, port authorities and service providers, ship owners, managers, agents, charterers and brokers as well as government and civil authorities use AISLive, our AIS Ship Tracker to:

Boost operational efficiencies: Follow your fleet’s global movements – routes, speeds, arrival times – including deep sea activity
Enhance domain awareness: Track all ships sailing in your waters
Uncover ship movement and commodity trade trends: Reveal competitor positions, create trading positions and identify business opportunities
Mitigate Risk: Identify, watch and set alerts for ships that could be a security risk in your waters

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AISLive Standard = terrestrial ship movements
AISLive Plus = terrestrial ship movements + the Sea-web Ports module
AISlive Premium = terrestrial ship movements + the Sea-web Ports module + satellite ship movements

	AISLive Premium	AISLive Plus	AISLive Standard
Ship-type filters
169 verified ship types, 22 unverified ship types, destination port, ETA, draught, speed, DWT, GT operator, technical manager	●	●	●
DATA
Satellite ship movements	●
Terrestrial ship movements	●	●	●
Ship speed/recency/type	●	●	●
Verified ship/port data	●	●	●
Ship characteristics, ownership, photos, news headlines	●	●	●
Dry cargo and tanker berths map layer	●	●	●
Basic port information	●	●	●
Enhanced port information (detailed data for 15,500+ ports & terminals) and latest port news	●	●
Ships currently in port, expected in port in next 24 hours, or departed port in last 24 hours	●	●
Coverage of up to 89,000 vessels daily with automatic weather updates	●	●	●
Watch List/ Alerts
Watch Lists	●	●	●
Zone Alerts	●	●	●
Itinerary Change Alerts	●	●	●
Port Arrival Alerts	●	●
Daily Noon Report Alerts	●	●	●

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Showing areas of coverage and the real-time intelligence figures showing number of ships on a map

AIS Map with ship details – Showing ship position and ship details

Port Overview and shows ships in Rotterdam

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Real-Time Ship Monitoring and Real-Time Intelligence for Vessel Activity

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Sky-to-Sea Data Sky-to-Sea Data Satellite and terrestrial online coverage of real-time maritime ship tracking 24/7 worldwide (satellite data available with AISLive Premium only)

Search Filters 197 filters including all ships (destination port/country, ETA, draught, speed and hazardous cargo, current position, last seen) and verified ships (DWT, GT, flag, operator, technical manager, last port of call and last country of call) for comprehensive live ship tracking.

Verified Ship Data Ship name, technical manager, commercial operator, type, call sign, dimensions and photos – Maritime & Trade holds the largest maritime ships database in the world and is the sole appointed authority for assigning and validating the IMO ship and company numbers

Network Coverage Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Far East, including live global port callings, with more antenna stations being added all the time

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FAQ

How does AIS work? Our AIS ship tracker works by allowing individual vessels to automatically broadcast a regularly updated series of structured messages containing navigation and identity information to other vessels in their immediate vicinity.

Where does AIS cover? AIS equipment is in use globally not just on the high seas, but also extensively on rivers, lakes and inland waterways.

Resources

Research and Analysis

Request Follow Up