While the information on the site largely revolves around picking up these AIS signals for tracking purposes, background information about the vessels, photographs of ships and an abundance of other information is also added and moderated by volunteers, who make up the core of the MarineTraffic community. In that particular case, the AIS technology is replaced by ADS-B technology, which works in a similar way and is again assisted by volunteers, with information being picked up by ADS-B receivers or receiving stations, instead of AIS receivers. In many ways, the MarineTraffic AIS technology can be considered similar to the flight radar technology used by services like Flightradar24, in order to track aircraft. The MarineTraffic service makes use of more than 3,000 of these stations, positioned all around the world, allowing the service to track positions, identify vessels, plot courses and even monitor speed. The AIS transponder transmits GPS information, as well as a host of additional data, which is then received by AIS receiving stations. Since 2004, it has been compulsory for all passenger ships of any size, and all international voyaging ships with a gross tonnage of 300 or more, to be fitted with an AIS transponder, which is able to transmit and receive AIS data. What is AIS Technology?ĪIS stands for ‘ automatic identification system‘ and refers to a tracking system that is used on ships and vessels. Much of this information is submitted voluntarily by the community of members. This information is then used to provide a more accurate and up-to-date live map of vessel locations.Īside from tracking vessel positions, MarineTraffic also provides background information on vessels, such as where they were built, when they were built, their IMO (International Maritime Organisation) number, how much they weigh and even photographs of them. From there, locations can be overlaid onto Google Maps and, as a result, users can use the service to track the movements of ships and other vessels in real-time.Īdditionally, some information surrounding ship locations is self-reported from those aboard. The MarineTraffic service makes use of AIS tracking technology to provide information about the identification, course, speed and current location of vessels.

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