What Ship Information Can I See on VesselFinder?

VesselFinder shows real-time ship positions and marine traffic on a map, based on AIS signals picked up by a global AIS network. For a given vessel, you can typically see identity details transmitted via AIS, such as the ship's name and identifiers, along with its current position. What appears for any individual vessel depends on what that vessel broadcasts and on network coverage in its area, so some fields may be missing or delayed.

Position and traffic context

The core of the site is the live map: vessel positions are plotted as marine traffic, letting you see where a ship is and how it sits relative to nearby vessels. Because positions come from AIS, a vessel outside receiver coverage — or one that has stopped transmitting — may not appear or may show an outdated location.

Vessel identity details

AIS transmissions carry identifying information. On VesselFinder this can include the vessel's name and identifiers broadcast by the ship. These details are only as complete as the vessel's own transmissions, so unnamed or partially identified vessels are possible.

What affects what you see

If you need to confirm a specific vessel, start from the live map, locate the ship, and open its details to see which identity fields are actually present — treating any gaps as a coverage or broadcast limitation rather than a definitive absence.