Skip to main content
Explore WakeAtlas
◈
WAKEATLASSHIPS & OCEANS
SHIPS · OCEANS · EVIDENCE

Track a vessel

View recorded journeys by date. History is normally hourly. Create an account and select one vessel here for five-minute recording from now onward, whenever fresh AIS reports are available—even while signed out or while the vessel is stationary.

Changing your vessel returns the previous one to hourly recording unless another account still tracks it. Existing history is preserved; missing reports cannot be filled in.

Create an account or sign in to select your tracking vessel

    OBSERVATION VIEW

    Vessels and saved views

    MAP CONFIGURATION AND TOOLS

    Map tools

    Detailed controls and research tools. The map remains available while this panel is open.

    Imagery controls · 0 visible

    Base map stays visible. Vessel and data symbols have controls in their own sections.

    Legend: teal AIS = reported within 1 hour; amber = 1–24 hours; grey dashed = older or uncertain; cyan outlines = satellite footprints; orange GFW markers = historical activity, not current vessel positions. Open a marker for its observation type and evidence. Each source keeps its own timestamp.

    History and data
    THE MARITIME BRIEFSTORED AIS

    A world in motion.

    Follow the ships. Understand the setting.

    Building the regional brief…

    Vessels

    0 in view

    Connecting to vessel data…

    Timeline · latest observations

    Master time

    Latest stored observations. Weather, buoys and cyclones use the selected clock where stored coverage exists. Satellite reference imagery and warning panels retain their own displayed dates.

    System and data health
    Fleet photographs and details

    Loading queue…

    MAP CONTEXT

    AIS age: teal ≤1 hour; amber 1–24 hours; grey dashed >24 hours or uncertain. Positions are stored reports, not guaranteed live locations.

    WGS84 globe

    Natural Earth fallback map, with optional Sentinel-2 2024 land and regional aerial imagery. Check imagery controls and map attribution for active sources.

    AIS source: Fintraffic / Digitraffic, CC BY 4.0. Norway AIS: Kystverket / BarentsWatch, NLOD. Coordinates and timestamps normalized for display; reports are not independently verified.

    Connecting to vessel data…
    Area investigation

    Coverage and activity

    Stored feed freshness (0)

    Boxes show configured requests, not guaranteed reception. National feed coverage boundaries are not inferred.

    Recent reception is evidence of ingestion, not a connection-health guarantee. Reporting coverage is incomplete.

    Monitoring uses a rolling interval equal to the selected duration. Event reports refresh in place; no background notifications.

    Analyse a region up to 20 degrees wide over at most 24 hours.

    Inspect a location

    Enable, then click the globe to choose a location.

    Nearby station observations (0)

    Within a ±0.5° search box. Compare timestamps and units before comparing values.

    Vessels and ports

    Ports

    Search the World Port Index.

    Port AIS reception report

    Run a report to compare recent received vessel positions.

    Automatic port reception audit

    Loading port imagery catalogue...

    Weather and ocean

    Clouds · satellite weather

    Observed cloud imagery. Checks for new images every five minutes while this page is visible; image age depends on the provider.

    Satellite imagery is off.

    Cyan boundaries: regional infrared. Each region uses its assigned infrared source when its advertised image is no more than six hours old. Older or unavailable imagery leaves the region uncovered. VIIRS is a separate optional view in the Satellite view menu.

    These are display sectors, not satellite footprints. Missing pixels remain gaps. Brightness is not directly comparable across different infrared sources. Lower opacity blends with the base map.

    Independent of vessel playback. Daily composite dates are not exact capture times. No rain or surface wind is inferred from these pictures.

    Availability checked every five minutes. Latest check: unavailable. No image archive is stored locally.

    Lightning · EUMETSAT

    Five-minute accumulated flash area, including lightning within clouds. This is not a map of individual ground strikes.

    Regional satellite coverage, not worldwide. Missing pixels or detections do not establish safe conditions.

    EUMETSAT product · CC BY 4.0

    Global weather

    Load once to enable automatic updates after moving the globe. Requests wait until movement stops, are limited to one every 30 seconds, and pause when hidden. Zoomed views reuse an aligned sampling grid; missing values stay empty.

    Load a global overview, or choose visible-area samples for local detail.

    0 distinct grid locations with values for this condition and hour. Missing values stay hidden.

    Arrows point towards travel, relative to true north. Dots mean zero magnitude or unavailable direction. Arrow size changes with zoom; read the labels for speed or height. Zoom in to see value labels.

    Markers show provider grid samples, not a continuous field. The global overview requests samples every 15 degrees worldwide. With adaptive detail enabled, zooming in requests a denser local grid of at most 49 samples. Otherwise choose Visible area and load again. Sampling spacing is not model resolution. Recent downloads are reused for one hour.

    Shipwrecks

    Loading wrecks for this view…

    Browse wrecks and vessel images

    EMODnet / AND-International and INFOMAR (Geological Survey Ireland & Marine Institute) · CC BY 4.0. Positions may be approximate site centroids; records have different survey dates.

    Oil & gas platforms

    Browse all 264 platform and floating-facility records

    Contains information provided by the North Sea Transition Authority and/or other third parties. NSTA Open User Licence.
    Global wind & clouds Model estimate
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    ECMWF IFS open data
    Citation / DOI
    No DOI retained; cite the linked provider product.
    Resolution
    0.25° source grid, sampled at 0.5° for display. Animation is illustrative.
    Update cadence
    WakeAtlas checks every 30 minutes; available model run and frame times are shown.
    Licence
    CC BY 4.0.
    Uncertainty
    Deterministic fields; ensemble spread is not collected.
    Time coverage
    The saved forecast run only; interpolation between three-hour fields is labelled.

    Weather & ocean Model estimate

    Point forecasts · global model coverage where available.

    Import historical weather

    Choose one to seven completed UTC days at the location above. Availability varies by model and variable.

    Choose a sea location to inspect model forecasts.

    Weather buoys

    Loading station observations…

    Numbered purple groups show station counts. Click a group to zoom in. Click an individual dot to open its readings below. Individual dots: purple within 2 hours, amber for older observations. Group colour does not indicate observation age or sensor quality.

    NOAA NDBC and station operators. Reporting coverage is incomplete. Latest feed checked every 10 minutes while the local collector runs.

    Land and seabed

    Bathymetry

    Seabed shading off; land imagery remains available.

    Land uses the EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2024 reference mosaic when enabled, with Natural Earth as fallback. This is not current satellite weather. The generalized land mask can soften or offset coastal boundaries. EOX imagery is used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 for this non-commercial platform.

    GEBCO provides global shaded bathymetry at 15 arc-second grid spacing. EMODnet adds regional detail at 3.75 arc seconds below 3,000 km camera altitude. Pure-white regional pixels, including the zero-elevation colour, are transparent so GEBCO remains visible. This display fallback does not change numerical depth queries. Grid spacing does not establish depth accuracy.

    These are imagery overlays; use Local 3D seabed for numerical terrain. EMODnet depths use LAT; GEBCO is generally mean sea level. No datum conversion or depth blending is applied. Not for navigation or safety at sea.

    EMODnet Bathymetry · sources and quality

    GEBCO service and attribution · Dataset terms and quality

    UK coastal aerial imagery

    Original imagery is preferred. WMS surveys contain prominent provider watermarks and may have visible survey seams; they are off by default.

    Checking local originals...

    Loading CCO survey catalogue...

    0 aerial year groups from 2022 onwards. Older surveys are excluded from these globe controls. Coverage differs by year; a blank area does not establish coverage in other years. Imagery loads only at coastal zoom levels. WMS native resolution and exact survey dates remain unverified; local originals have separate verified metadata. Approximate datum transformation; not survey-grade positioning. WMS copyright details require verification before publication; local original attribution is shown above.

    CCO imagery source and terms

    Local 3D seabed

    Load a small numerical grid around the view centre.

    True vertical scale (1×). The globe becomes transparent to reveal the grid. Missing cells are omitted. Mean-sea-level elevations are placed relative to the ellipsoid without a datum correction.

    GEBCO / CEDA source, attribution and terms

    Infrastructure and warnings

    Infrastructure

    Import a local region to begin. Coverage is incomplete.

    Mapped platforms, offshore wind, lighthouses, navigation buoys and underwater cables. Community coverage and accuracy are unverified. Outlines are retained; operational status is unknown.

    © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

    Visible asset sources (0)
    Underwater infrastructure and vents

    Complete downloads of the listed regional sources. Coverage remains incomplete globally. Routes are reference information, not navigation charts. Line detail is simplified by up to about 11 metres for display; original records are retained locally. Check dates describe retrieval, not surveys.

    Use the infrastructure key on the globe to switch individual layers on or off.

    Vent colours: red = confirmed active, yellow = inferred active, grey = inactive. Vent activity is the March 2020 catalogue classification, not a live alert. Select a marker for recorded activity and depth. InterRidge: attribution, non-commercial use and share-alike terms apply.

    US cable areas include incomplete mapped sections; endpoints are not necessarily cable ends. Source material through September 2024.

    Earthquakes & tsunami bulletins

    Search all stored warnings and notices

    Loading earthquake and tsunami sources...

    Orange dots: USGS earthquake epicentres. Initial import covers the past 24 hours; longer history accumulates while the server runs. Reports may be revised.

    Blue dots locate the bulletin's earthquake, not the threatened coastline. No tsunami warning is inferred from earthquake magnitude.

    Warning coverage is incomplete. No bulletin does not mean all clear.

    Server checks feeds about every minute; this panel refreshes every minute. This prototype does not replace official emergency alerts.

    USGS: not yet checked - STALE / unavailable

    NTWC: not yet checked - STALE / unavailable

    PTWC: not yet checked - STALE / unavailable

    Check official tsunami warnings
    Satellite observations

    Satellite imagery · last seven days

    Cyan outline: the selected radar image footprint. It shows where imagery was acquired, not a detected vessel.

    Loading recent satellite scenes…

    UK shortcut: 8°W–2°E, 49°N–59°N. Current-view checks support regions up to 20° per side that do not cross the date line. Catalogue checks are on demand, at most once per ten minutes. Image pixels have not been downloaded.

    No loaded scene meets the selected age limit. This does not establish an absence of satellite coverage.

    Last catalogue check: not yet checked. Older records remain stored and are hidden here.

    Copernicus Sentinel-1 · source and access

    Delayed AIS activity · GFW

    Loading stored delayed activity…

    Each orange marker represents one vessel’s historical activity. Its anchor is one reported cell, not a latest or current position. Select a vessel to show its reported cells in this view. GFW usually has a roughly 72-hour delay; actual report dates are shown below. Satellite and terrestrial sources are combined.

    Only the last seven days are shown. A cell is hidden when recent AIS falls inside it, or its vessel has AIS newer than the report day anywhere. Checked every 30 seconds. Missing reception does not prove lack of coverage.

    Checking worldwide import…

    Worldwide ocean import is incremental. Empty areas may still be pending or lack source data. Generalized Natural Earth ocean boundaries are used.

    Global Fishing Watch · terms and attribution

    GFW satellite observations

    Loading stored GFW observations…

    Magenta diamonds and shaded cells: satellite radar observations, separate from live AIS. This dated sample remains visible independently of the vessel timeline.

    Powered by Global Fishing Watch
    Security and port intelligence

    Maritime security & exclusion zones

    Search all stored warnings and notices

    Conflict-related maritime advisories, piracy threats and navigation notices. These reports do not establish legal exclusion boundaries.

    Loading official notice sources…

    Snapshot saved: unavailable

    0 matching notices; showing up to 100. Index entries link to the full official advisory; dates are shown as supplied (MM/DD/YYYY).

    0 sourced zone imports. No boundary is generated from a place name or threat report. Orange outlines are within the supplied date window; grey are outside it. Neither confirms current legal status.

    MSCI: not checked

    NGA: not checked

    MARAD_EMAIL: not checked

    Web sources checked every ten minutes; configured mailbox every five minutes while the server runs. Consult official navigation and security instructions before acting.

    Port intelligence

    Reported port movements and schedules. These are not live AIS positions.

    0 matches

    Snapshot saved: unavailable
    Source update: not supplied

    Source and intellectual property: Hong Kong SAR Government, Marine Department / DATA.GOV.HK. Data supplied as-is; accuracy and current status are not independently verified.

    ·

    Sources checked every 20 minutes while the server runs. Expected arrivals remain estimates.

    Analysis and cyclones

    Tropical cyclones

    GLOBAL VIEW

    Earth / maritime observations

    Filter shipsHigher limits show more ships but use more memory and data. Saved on this browser.Older ships are hidden from view. Saved history is retained.
    More tools
    Precise map controls

    Keyboard and AI browser controls. AI access guide

    Map layers

    Globe loading

    Zoom in, Zoom out, North up and Reset view remain beside this panel.

    Layers
    Map layers Drag to move
    My locationStart location tracking to get a position.Your browser asks permission. Position stays in this browser; WakeAtlas does not upload it. No tracking resumes automatically. A GPS receiver is not required: your browser may estimate location using Wi-Fi or other sources. WakeAtlas cannot tell which source it used. The accuracy circle shows the reported uncertainty. Map providers may receive requests for the area you view.
    More overlaysShows existing stored data. Coverage and report dates vary; use Map tools for filters, sources and imports.
    Nautical charts · OnPortugal chart service and terms
    Research display, not for navigation. Only one chart background is enabled at a time. Finnish and Dutch vector detail loads as you zoom into source coverage. These sources cover different areas. Empty tiles do not establish safe water. Chart edition dates are not supplied with these tiles; availability is not proof of currency.Community seamarks are drawn above the charts; symbols may overlap. Disable them for an unobstructed chart.NOAA chart servicesTraficom coverage and licenceDutch inland chart source and CC0 licenceLINZ chart catalogue and licencesOpenSeaMap source

    Use the quick switches on the left for wind, clouds, lightning and buoys. Adjust satellite weather below; detailed wind settings are in Map tools.

    Ocean science
    Denmark depth · 2024 Observation-derived estimate
    Depth colour stops: 0 · 10 · 25 · 50 · 100 · 200 · 500 m (not equally spaced). Positive depths below mean sea level; averages and interpolation, not least depths.Provider release: August 2024. Survey dates vary by cell; inspect Survey end year. This is not a 2024 survey everywhere.Contains data from the Danish Geodata Agency, Denmark's Depth Model, 50 m resolution. Obtained not yet available.Model and data are not suitable for navigation.Danish EEZ coverage, with a generalized coastline. Blank cells mean no value in this layer; the background may show another model.
    Historical shipping densityMean annual distance travelled within each one-degree cell by non-fishing vessels over 300 gross tons. Historical AIS coverage; not live ships or individual routes.
    Logarithmic scale: blue 1 km · middle 3,162 km · yellow 10 million km or more per cell per year. Zero and missing values are transparent. Cell areas vary with latitude; this is not distance per square kilometre.Fixed 2017–2022 research average, including during vessel playback. Original one-degree cells retained; colours adapted by WakeAtlas.Nisi et al. (2024) · source and methodsData supplied through HUB OceanCreative Commons Attribution 4.0

    Copernicus Marine

    Currents, sea level & water properties Model estimate
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    Copernicus Marine · Global Ocean Physics
    Citation / DOI
    10.48670/moi-00016
    Resolution
    Nominal 1/12° source model; sampled at 1° for this display. Not harbour-scale detail.
    Update cadence
    Daily means. Dated preview snapshot; automatic refresh not yet active.
    Licence
    Copernicus Marine Service licence. Credit: E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
    Uncertainty
    No numerical uncertainty retained in this sample. Model estimates, not direct measurements.
    Time coverage
    Global ocean from 80°S to 90°N with land and missing cells transparent. Selected depths only for water properties. Temperature is potential temperature. Sea height is above the geoid, not tide height or anomaly. Wave height is significant height, not the largest individual wave.
    Waves & swell Model estimate
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    Copernicus Marine · Global Ocean Waves
    Citation / DOI
    10.48670/moi-00017
    Resolution
    Nominal 1/12° source model; sampled at 1° for this display. Not harbour-scale detail.
    Update cadence
    Three-hourly instantaneous fields. Dated preview snapshot; automatic refresh not yet active.
    Licence
    Copernicus Marine Service licence. Credit: E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
    Uncertainty
    No numerical uncertainty retained in this sample. Model estimates, not direct measurements.
    Time coverage
    Global ocean from 80°S to 90°N with land and missing cells transparent. Selected depths only for water properties. Temperature is potential temperature. Sea height is above the geoid, not tide height or anomaly. Wave height is significant height, not the largest individual wave.
    Surface water density Observation-derived estimate
    Observation / valid time: Not suppliedProvider publication / update: Not supplied
    One saved date or archive unavailable; no time range to browse.
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    Copernicus Marine / CNR · multi-observation surface density
    Citation / DOI
    10.48670/moi-00051
    Resolution
    Nominal 1/8° grid (about 14 km); interpolated multi-observation analysis.
    Update cadence
    Daily product; WakeAtlas checks weekly.
    Licence
    Copernicus Marine Service licence; attribution required.
    Uncertainty
    Provider dos_error field, kg/m³. Use the uncertainty switch; it is not ensemble spread or a confidence interval.
    Time coverage
    Only saved dated rasters are selectable; gaps are not interpolated.
    Surface density: 1,020–1,030 kg/m³. Values outside the scale use its end colours.Daily analysis combining satellite and in-water observations, about 14 km resolution. Land and missing data are transparent. Saved releases are checked weekly.Copernicus Marine source and methods
    Sea ice Observation-derived estimate
    Observation / valid time: Not suppliedProvider publication / update: Not supplied
    One saved date or archive unavailable; no time range to browse.Archive maintenance: Not supplied (not provider publication).
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    EUMETSAT OSI SAF via Copernicus Marine · AMSR2 sea-ice concentration
    Citation / DOI
    10.48670/moi-00134
    Resolution
    About 10 km source product, served on a 0.1° grid. Grid spacing is not floe-level accuracy.
    Update cadence
    Daily product; WakeAtlas checks every six hours.
    Licence
    Copernicus Marine Service licence; EUMETSAT OSI SAF attribution.
    Uncertainty
    Source flags screen invalid cells. The provider total-uncertainty view is available for the latest saved date when collected; units are percentage points of ice concentration, not ensemble spread. Older concentration dates may not have uncertainty rasters.
    Time coverage
    Saved concentration dates only. Growth/retreat is available for the latest documented date pair.
    Blue to white: 15–100% sea-ice concentration. Ice below 15%, land and missing observations are transparent. This shows coverage, not thickness or individual floes.Growth comparison becomes available after the next saved observation.Daily observations · original grid about 10 km · checks every six hours.
    Ocean chemistry Model estimate
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    Copernicus Marine · Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Analysis and Forecast
    Citation / DOI
    10.48670/moi-00015
    Resolution
    Nominal 0.25° model grid; nearest cell for point estimates.
    Update cadence
    Daily mean fields; WakeAtlas checks every six hours.
    Licence
    Copernicus Marine Service licence; attribution required.
    Uncertainty
    No numerical uncertainty or ensemble spread field is supplied in the collected variables. Colour percentiles are display limits, not uncertainty.
    Time coverage
    Only the current saved daily field is served by the chemistry API; no historical slider is claimed.
    Copernicus source and method
    Ocean heat Observation-derived estimate
    Observation / valid time: Not suppliedProvider publication / update: Not supplied
    One saved date or archive unavailable; no time range to browse.
    Layer information · source, accuracy & licence
    Source
    NOAA Coral Reef Watch · Marine Heatwave Watch
    Citation / DOI
    No DOI retained; cite the linked provider product.
    Resolution
    Nominal 5 km satellite-derived daily grid.
    Update cadence
    Daily product; WakeAtlas checks every six hours.
    Licence
    NOAA data: free to use with source credit.
    Uncertainty
    No per-cell uncertainty or ensemble spread is supplied in this saved category layer.
    Time coverage
    Only saved daily categories are selectable. Categories are estimates relative to the seasonal threshold.
    NASA marine observations Observation-derived estimateNew releases are checked every six hours. Observation dates may be older than the last check.
    Updating AIS view…

    Vessel filters are active. Counts apply to matching stored reports. An empty area does not prove that no ships are there. Reception varies by location and provider.

    • ▲ AIS within 1 hour
    • ▲ AIS 1–24 hours
    • △ Older or uncertain AIS
    • ● Delayed GFW activity

    Arrow direction uses reported heading, then course when moving above 0.5 knots. An unknown direction is not a northbound report.

    Age limits filter reports; they do not guarantee live reception. Historical satellite observations are separate.