Live Tanker Traffic — Global AIS Map

What the map is showing today

On Day 194 of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the most useful thing this map shows is what is missing. GEF’s own daily AIS audit of the Bandar Abbas and Qeshm frame consistently returns Iranian-flag coastal names rather than an international transit queue — consistent with the wider count of roughly 11–12 commodity crossings a day against a pre-war norm near 130 (Kpler; Lloyd’s List Intelligence, 26 Aug–1 Sep).

Read every vessel count here as a floor, not a total. Kpler data reported via CNN found 72 of 84 crude-laden tankers (86%) transiting since 7 July sailed with AIS switched off, most via the UN-authorised Omani corridor and frequently using ship-to-ship transfers. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has argued flows are higher than tracking services capture, and GEF accepts that as a fair caveat — applied consistently it means an AIS map understates traffic in exactly the conditions where traffic matters most.

Two further distortions are worth knowing. CNN reports GPS spoofing as an ongoing problem around both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, which corrupts position data rather than removing it. And a share of contacts appear as [SAT-AIS] — visible to satellite receivers but not terrestrial ones. GEF logs that count each morning: it has run between three and roughly twelve at Bab el-Mandeb over the past week, and a single day’s move in either direction is recorded but not interpreted, because one morning is not a trend.

Why it matters: a live map is evidence, not truth. Where operators have an incentive to be unobserved, absence of signal is itself the signal — and the honest use of this page is to read it alongside the transit counts and dated sources on the Hormuz tracker, not instead of them.

About this map

The map above shows live AIS (Automatic Identification System) positions of tankers, LNG carriers and energy-related shipping worldwide, embedded from MarineTraffic. AIS is the maritime equivalent of aviation transponders: vessels broadcast their identity, position, course and speed to nearby ships and shore stations. The MarineTraffic platform aggregates this data into a near-live picture of global commercial shipping. Positions are indicative rather than precisely real-time; refresh frequency varies by vessel class, region and AIS coverage density.

Energy shipping is concentrated in a handful of strategically critical chokepoints. Five chokepoints together carry the majority of seaborne crude oil, refined product and liquefied natural gas trade. Understanding the live AIS picture at these chokepoints is one of the highest-signal indicators of energy-supply disruption, because tanker behaviour responds to operational risk faster than any other observable variable: tankers slow, divert, anchor offshore, or accelerate into safe waters within hours of geopolitical events.

Strait of Hormuz

The narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula has historically carried approximately 20% of global oil and a substantial share of refined-product trade. Since February 28, 2026, traffic on vessel counts runs at roughly a tenth of the pre-war baseline — Lloyd’s List recorded 114 transits in the week to 23 August, about 16 a day against a norm near 130, though the following week fell back toward five. On barrels moved the picture is different: Goldman Sachs estimates Persian Gulf exports have recovered to roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict volumes, the gap being crude that transits unobserved and transfers in the Gulf of Oman. Vessels that previously crossed Hormuz now sit at anchor outside the strait, transit at high speed only when escorted, or reroute via the Saudi East-West Petroline bypass (~5 mb/d capacity) and the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP, partially damaged in the May 4 Fujairah strike). See the dedicated Strait of Hormuz status page for the day count, oil-price impact and full crisis timeline.

Bab el-Mandeb (Red Sea / Suez Canal)

The southern entrance to the Red Sea, between Yemen and Djibouti, has been under intermittent attack risk from Houthi maritime forces since late 2023. As Hormuz-bound traffic has rerouted, Bab el-Mandeb has absorbed displaced European-bound flows, with vessel densities in the Red Sea and at the Suez Canal northbound queue running above pre-2026 norms. The Suez Canal itself, while a fixed-width waterway, has not been a binding constraint in 2026; the binding constraint upstream remains willingness of operators to transit Bab el-Mandeb.

Strait of Malacca / Singapore Strait

The principal east-west chokepoint between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, carrying the majority of seaborne crude moving from the Middle East and Africa to East Asian refining centres. Malacca has densified materially since February 28, 2026 as the redirection of cargoes that previously transited Hormuz adds traffic load. Singapore's anchorage areas show elevated holding patterns. Indonesian and Malaysian patrol activity remains routine; no acute security risk at the chokepoint itself.

Panama Canal

The lock-based canal between the Atlantic and Pacific is constrained by water-level seasonality rather than geopolitical risk. The 2024-2025 water level recovery has held into 2026, with normal transit slot allocations restored. Panama is a relatively minor chokepoint for crude oil — most movements are LNG carriers serving Asian markets from US Gulf Coast terminals.

Turkish Straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles)

The narrow waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, regulated under the Montreux Convention. Russian crude exports through the Black Sea (including Novorossiysk port flows) transit the Bosphorus southbound; the post-April 6 CPC attack reduced Novorossiysk capacity to approximately 65%. Turkish authorities have not invoked Montreux restrictions during the current cycle.

How to read the map

Vessel symbols on the map are colour-coded by ship class: tankers, gas carriers, cargo ships, passenger vessels and others. Click a vessel to see its name, IMO number, destination and ETA. For chokepoint-specific analysis with vessel counts and disruption indicators, see the chokepoints page. For the wider energy supply context that this maritime picture sits inside, see the main dashboard and the weekly risk analysis briefing.

The MarineTraffic embed is a third-party service; positions are indicative and may lag actual vessel movements by several minutes to several hours depending on AIS coverage. For operational maritime decisions, vessels and operators should rely on their own AIS receivers and authoritative naval coordination bodies (UKMTO, Combined Maritime Forces, IMO). Nothing on this page is a navigation aid.