OSINT Naval Tracker

The status bar at the top of the map gives you a real-time read on the feed. Left to right: FEED shows whether the live AIS stream is connected; VESSELS is the total number of ships currently plotted; UPDATES counts position reports received since page load; SOURCE confirms the data provider (AISStream); ZOOM shows your current map zoom level; and the LIVE / DARK counter shows how many vessels are broadcasting versus how many have gone silent in the last 24 hours. The coordinates in the center track your cursor position on the map. UTC clock is top right.

The search box at the top center of the map is your primary navigation tool. Type a vessel name, MMSI number, IMO number, port name, or base name and the map will fly to that location and highlight the result. This is the fastest way to act on a news tip — copy the vessel name or identifier directly from the article and paste it here.

Port search covers the global ports dataset. Military base search is available after selecting an AOR and enabling the Basing layer.

Selecting an AOR focuses the map on a U.S. Navy numbered fleet region and enables theater-specific data layers that require geographic context — primarily the Basing layer. Choose from 2nd Fleet (North Atlantic), 3rd Fleet (Eastern Pacific), 4th Fleet (South Atlantic / Caribbean), 5th Fleet (Arabian Gulf / Indian Ocean), 6th Fleet (Mediterranean), 7th Fleet (Western Pacific), NATO, or Far North. A reference diagram of numbered fleet AORs is included in the panel.

You do not need to select an AOR to use the live vessel feed, chokepoint buttons, or most overlay layers.

Checkboxes that add analytical context on top of the live vessel plot. Organized into groups:

Controls the underlying map tile set. Switch between standard chart view, satellite imagery, terrain, and Wikimapia (which adds crowd-sourced facility labels useful for identifying unmarked installations). The Reload Data Layers button in this panel forces a full refresh of all active overlays — use it if a layer appears stale or fails to populate.

A scrollable list of all vessels currently plotted on the map, sortable by name, type, flag, and status. Click any entry to fly to that vessel and open its information popup. Useful for scanning the current plot for vessel types or flags of interest without having to hunt the map visually.

Opens an in-app reference panel with layer descriptions, tips on reading the heatmap overlays versus live dots, and notes on the Wikimapia base layer. If you are new to the platform, the Help panel inside the tracker is a good first stop before the layers get busy.

One-click buttons that fly the map to the world's most operationally significant maritime chokepoints, pre-set to the appropriate zoom level and fleet AOR context. Each button centers the view on the chokepoint and loads relevant data for that theater.

Toggles a curated news and force posture layer over the map — sourced maritime and naval news items plotted at their geographic reference point. Read the headline, then look at what's in the water around it. Toggle off when you want a clean plot.

Toggles RainViewer global precipitation radar over the map. Useful for correlating weather systems with vessel routing decisions, AIS gaps in remote ocean areas, and operational planning context. Toggle off when not needed — the radar overlay adds visual weight to a busy plot.

SNAPSHOT mode freezes the vessel plot at its current state. The map does not redraw as new position reports arrive. Lower memory usage — recommended for most users and for overlay-heavy sessions. Refresh the plot manually with the Refresh Now button when you want an update.

LIVE mode redraws vessel positions in real time as AIS reports come in. The map stays current automatically but uses more browser memory on large plots. Live mode is gated to zoom level 6 and above to prevent performance issues at global view.

Stop / Start Refresh toggles the automatic position-refresh timer on and off. Default interval is 5 minutes. Stop it when you want to hold a snapshot for analysis without the plot shifting under you.

Refresh Now forces an immediate re-sync of all vessel positions regardless of the timer state. Use this after zooming into a new area or after enabling a new layer to pull current data for that region.