AIS Ship Traffic

Positions and tracks of vessels with radio transmitters (generally large ships). Positions are determined by receiver stations along the coast. Each vessel's signal provides name, type, speed and direction. The red marker shows the ship's most recent position, the previous track is indicated by a line extending from marker. The map updates at the top of the hour and at 20 minutes past the hour, showing ships from Pt. Arena to Pt. Conception as of those times. See further details below map.

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All Ships Fishing Tugs Pilot Military/Law enforcement Passenger Cargo Tankers Pleasure craft Research or Dredging

All other/unknown ship tracks are white.

To use this map:
    • Narrow down the ship types shown on the map by clicking one (or more) checkboxes next to ship types at top of page (default is all ship types)
    • Click on red map markers to view information on ship of interest
    • Or scroll down vessel information column on right and click vessel of interest to be taken to the ship location on the map
    • The trackline color corresponds to the type of ship being tracked, defined by the text color of the vessel type in the checkbox menu
    • Use map zoom bar to view more or less of the region, and change level of detail for ship tracks
    • The National Marine Sanctuary borders are shown in bright green, click within a border to view the sanctuary name.
    • The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary recommended shipping lanes for ships over 300 tons not carrying hazardous waste are the two cyan lines just seaward of the Monterey Bay. The thicker line is for southbound traffic and the thinner line is for northbound traffic.
    • The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary recommended shipping lanes for ships over 300 tons carrying hazardous waste are the two cyan lines the furthest offshore from Monterey Bay. The thicker line is for southbound traffic and the thinner line is for northbound traffic.
    • The pink/purple lines off of the mouth of the San Francisco Bay are the new Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) for San Francisco Bay.
AIS data courtesy of the Naval Postgraduate School, Department of Oceanography