What Is MyShipTracking and What Can You Do With It?

Updated

MyShipTracking (myshiptracking.com) is a free real-time AIS vessel tracking service that plots ship positions on an interactive map. You can use it to locate vessels, watch traffic in a port area, look up basic vessel and port information, and replay past tracks. It is a general information tool: the site states that all data is provided "AS IS" for informational purposes only, with no guarantee of reliability or accuracy, so it should not be treated as an authoritative or safety-critical source.

What the map shows

The core of the service is a live map with configurable layers and labels. Based on the site's map controls, you can:

  • Switch base maps: Standard, Dark, Satellite, and Navionics (including a Navionics Sonar option).
  • Add overlays: OpenSeaMap, a graticule, and a daylight indicator.
  • Filter vessel icons and labels by type, including cargo, tanker, passenger, high-speed craft, tug/pilot, fishing, yacht/others, base station, aircraft, and navigation aid.
  • Show or hide labels at lower zoom levels and choose which tags appear on a label: name, speed, destination, calculated ETA, and received time.
  • Display vessel status such as underway using engine, at anchor, moored, aground, engaged in fishing, restricted manoeuvrability, constrained by draught, towing, pushing ahead, or not under command.

These options matter in practice. For example, if you are watching a busy strait, filtering to cargo and tanker icons and showing speed and destination labels gives a cleaner picture than leaving every category on.

Tracking a specific vessel

Vessel details are organized into tabs for size, build, speed, and voyage, alongside the current status. To follow one ship:

  1. Locate the vessel on the map or through the vessel database.
  2. Open its details to see status, speed, and voyage information.
  3. Use the track and history controls to view its past positions; track color can be set to reflect speed, and you can toggle old/new position markers.
  4. Save the view or add the vessel for repeated checks.

A realistic use case: checking whether a cargo ship bound for a specific port is still at anchor offshore or already underway, by reading its status and recent track rather than a single position point.

Playback, measurement, and fleet tools

The map includes analysis tools beyond live viewing:

  • Playback replays vessel movements at speeds from x1 up to x10,000, useful for reviewing how traffic developed over a period.
  • Measure calculates distances directly on the map.
  • Fleet mode groups vessels for repeated monitoring.
  • My Areas lets you define zones of interest, and the "Cover your Area" option relates to adding missing ports.

Weather layers (wind, temperature, cloud cover, rain, pressure) can be overlaid, and wind can be shown along a route or asset.

Ports, port calls, and databases

Beyond individual ships, the site offers a vessel database, a port database, and port calls, plus the ability to submit a new port or report an error. This makes it possible to check activity around a port rather than tracking ships one at a time — for instance, reviewing recent port calls to understand traffic patterns at a terminal.

Practical limits to keep in mind

  • Accuracy is not guaranteed. The site explicitly disclaims responsibility for reliability and accuracy, so verify anything important against another source.
  • AIS coverage varies. Positions depend on received AIS data; gaps are possible, and the site invites users to share AIS data or add a station, which indicates coverage is partly community-supported.
  • There are paid tiers. The site links to pricing plans and an AIS data API, so some services sit behind plans even though the core tracking is described as free. Check the pricing pages for current terms rather than assuming everything is free.
  • Accounts exist. Login is offered, and mobile apps are available for iOS and Android.

Who it suits

MyShipTracking fits casual and general-interest tracking: following a ship's progress, observing port traffic, or reviewing past movements with playback. For decisions where position accuracy is critical, treat it as one input among several and confirm with official or commercial sources.