How to Find a Specific Ship or Port on MarineTraffic

Updated

You can find a specific ship or port on MarineTraffic in two main ways: search by name in the ship database, or browse the live map by area. Searching by name is the fastest route when you already know the vessel or port you want; the map works better when you only know roughly where to look or want to see what is nearby.

Search for a ship by name

MarineTraffic maintains a searchable database of vessels, described on the site as covering more than 550,000 active and decommissioned ships. To use it:

  1. Enter the ship's name in the search field.
  2. Run the search and review the matching results.
  3. Open the vessel's detail page.

The detail page is where the useful information sits: the vessel's position, its details, and ship photos. If several ships share a similar name, compare the results before opening one, since the database includes both active and decommissioned vessels.

Expected result: a vessel page showing the ship's location and identifying information, rather than a raw list of names.

Find a port

Ports can be located the same two ways:

  • By search — look up the port by name and open its page.
  • By map — navigate to the region and select the port marker.

Either route gets you to the port's location on the map. If you are unsure of the exact port name, the map route avoids the problem of guessing the spelling.

Browse the live map by area

When you do not have a name to search, use the near real-time ships map:

  1. Move to the region you care about.
  2. Look at the vessel and port markers in that area.
  3. Select a marker to open the corresponding ship or port.

This is the practical approach for questions like "what is currently near this port" or "which ships are in this stretch of water," where you are browsing rather than targeting one known vessel.

Choosing between the two methods

Your situation Better method
You know the ship or port name Search the database
You know only the region Browse the live map
You want to confirm a vessel's position and see photos Search, then open the detail page
You want to see what is nearby Browse the live map

Common sticking points

  • Name ambiguity. Similar names return multiple results, and the database mixes active and decommissioned vessels, so check the detail page before assuming you have the right ship.
  • Spelling. Port and ship names are often transliterated differently; if a search returns nothing, try the map instead.
  • Coverage. Positions come from AIS, so a vessel only appears when it is transmitting and within receiver range. A ship you expect to see may simply not be reporting at that moment.