Free tool

Ship Tracker

See the big ships waiting to unload at four of America's busiest ports — live, free, and with no sign-up. Every ship on the map is real, straight from its own radio beacon.

Free tool — always freeEvery ship idling at anchor is ~$20,000+/day of demurrage risk for someone.
ContainerTankerCargo / bulkOtherLast known positions

Tap any ship on the map to see its name, type, speed, and heading.

Vessels in view

0

Waiting for the live feed to warm up.

0

underway

0

at rest

How we compute this
Every large ship carries an AIS transponder — a radio beacon that broadcasts its position, speed, and heading every few seconds, as maritime law requires. Our server listens to that broadcast for four busy U.S. ports and keeps a running picture. This page asks for that picture every 10 seconds and draws it. We relay real broadcasts; we never simulate a ship. When the feed is quiet, we say so instead of inventing one.

Data sources

Want this watching your lane?

We'll email you one worked example of demurrage exposure for a port you name — free, within a day.

No spam. A real person follows up. Privacy

See the expensive version of this problem: Freight demurrage — the $20,000/day problem

How it works

  1. Big ships carry a radio beacon called AIS. It shares the ship's position, speed, and course every few seconds.
  2. Our server listens to that feed for four busy U.S. ports and keeps a running picture of every ship it hears.
  3. This page asks our server for that picture every 10 seconds and draws it — no app, no login, no cost to you.

Common questions

What do the colors mean?
Each color is the kind of ship: gold for container ships, red for tankers, green for cargo and bulk carriers, and tan for everything else. An arrow points the way a moving ship is headed; a dot means the ship is sitting still.
Is this live?
Yes, when the banner says so. If the live feed goes quiet, we tell you and show the last real positions — we never fill the map with made-up ships.
Why should a business care?
If your goods ride on these ships, every extra day a container waits at the port can cost real money. See the freight demurrage problem for the dollars behind the delay.