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MarineTraffic is the easiest starting point for a public map, watchlist, port activity and alerts. Choose VesselFinder when you need a clearly priced satellite subscription, tanker-proximity events or a separate AIS API. Choose Kpler when a vessel’s position is only part of the question and you also need cargo flows, ownership, sanctions, chartering or fleet analysis.
The decisive technical issue is AIS coverage: terrestrial receivers work best near shore, while satellite AIS extends tracking into the open ocean. A position on a map is an observed transmission, not proof that a tanker loaded, discharged, transferred cargo or complied with sanctions.
What these tools actually track
Automatic Identification System (AIS) broadcasts a ship’s identity and navigation information to receiving stations. Depending on the vessel and the data service, a record can include latitude and longitude, course, speed, heading, draught, destination, navigation status, reported or predicted ETA, and voyage-departure details. Port-call systems add arrivals, departures, terminal or berth events and time spent in port.
Terrestrial AIS receivers are installed along coasts, in ports and on offshore infrastructure. Their practical range is limited by radio line of sight, so updates become sparse or disappear as a ship moves beyond receiving networks. Satellite AIS collects compatible transmissions over the ocean and fills much of that gap, although coverage, message frequency and reception can vary by latitude, traffic density, antenna conditions and the provider’s network.
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Tracking services process these observations into a map, history, watchlist or alert. They may also infer a voyage, estimate an ETA, associate a vessel with an owner or operator, or identify a likely port call. Those derived layers are useful, but they are not the same as a directly observed AIS transmission.
Best choice by use case
- Everyday tracking and port activity: MarineTraffic offers the gentlest path from a free coastal map to paid satellite coverage, alerts, ETAs and exports.
- Individual users, small teams and tanker proximity: VesselFinder has a straightforward Satellite subscription, filters by vessel characteristics, 90-day tracks and tanker-involved proximity events.
- Cargo, trade and compliance work: Kpler combines AIS with cargo and trade context, ownership and management records, sanctions screening and fleet analytics.
- Open-ocean monitoring: Use a plan that explicitly includes satellite AIS. A terrestrial-only account cannot reliably follow a tanker after it leaves receiver range.
- Programmatic collection: VesselFinder exposes a separate credit-based API; professional Kpler and enterprise MarineTraffic workflows are generally sales-assisted.
At-a-glance comparison
| Tool | Best fit | Coverage and data | History and workflow | Commercial details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MarineTraffic | General tracking, port activity, watchlists and enterprise fleet or risk work | Free terrestrial positions; paid satellite options; enterprise terrestrial, satellite and roaming AIS | Consumer tiers provide short look-backs; enterprise pages describe five years of historical positions and events, alerts, exports and custom areas | Free account; displayed consumer tiers: Mobile Pro US$4.99/month, Basic US$10/month, Essential US$100/month; Enterprise is sales-assisted |
| VesselFinder | Individuals, small teams, tanker proximity and API users | Basic terrestrial AIS; Satellite combines terrestrial and satellite AIS for global and open-ocean coverage | Basic shows three-day history; Satellite lists 90-day history, up to 2,000 ships in My Fleet, port calls, terminal or berth arrivals and proximity events | Displayed Satellite price: US$139/month or US$1,399/year; API is separate and credit-based |
| Kpler | Commodity, cargo, chartering, sanctions, ownership and large-fleet intelligence | Corporate page reports 13,000+ AIS receivers, broad terrestrial and satellite coverage, 25-second average message frequency and 5-second average data latency | More than five years of historical vessel movements; live voyage, port-call, route, fleet, ownership, cargo and compliance layers | Professional platform, demo and sales route; public pages do not state a standard self-serve price |
Coverage, prices and limits can change. The figures above are the displayed or vendor-reported values identified for these products, not an independent accuracy benchmark.
MarineTraffic: the practical general-purpose starting point
MarineTraffic is the most accessible option when you want to put a vessel on a map, create a watchlist, see port activity or receive movement notifications without immediately buying a professional intelligence platform. Its free account gives users access to vessel positions recorded by its terrestrial AIS-receiving network and allows watching up to five vessels.
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| Plan | Displayed price | Useful capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Coastal terrestrial positions and watching up to five vessels |
| Mobile Pro | US$4.99/month | Paid mobile tier; the displayed price is monthly |
| Basic | US$10/month | Change notifications, port activity, three-day look-back and report or spreadsheet access |
| Essential | US$100/month | Open-ocean satellite tracking, up to 50 watched vessels, seven-day history, ETAs, live wind, exports and custom areas |
The plan page lists a satellite allowance for Essential that lets you follow one vessel via satellite; the Enterprise offering supports unlimited satellite tracking. Check the current account screen before paying because plan names, limits and regional taxes may change.
Enterprise capabilities
MarineTraffic’s enterprise service combines terrestrial, satellite and roaming AIS with ownership and operator data, port congestion, five years of historical port calls, unlimited vessel tracking and alerts, exports and custom areas. It also describes sanctions screening across more than 40 commodities, ownership and management risk profiling, AIS-spoofing and dark ship-to-ship-transfer detection, and historical port-call analysis. Those features are designed for fleets, compliance teams, insurers, logistics companies and analysts rather than casual map use.
When it is the right fit
- You need a readable public-facing map and a gradual upgrade path.
- Your workflow mixes vessel positions with port congestion, ETAs, wind and spreadsheet exports.
- You want to watch a modest fleet first and only add satellite coverage for offshore legs.
Do not treat the free coastal layer as an ocean-wide tracker. Once a tanker leaves terrestrial receiver range, its track may pause until satellite data or another receiving network detects it.
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VesselFinder: explicit satellite access, proximity events and an API
VesselFinder separates terrestrial-only use from a Satellite plan intended for offshore and global tracking. The Satellite subscription combines terrestrial and satellite AIS and supports live-map filters by gross tonnage (GT), deadweight tonnage (DWT), flag and vessel type. That is useful when a list contains thousands of ships and you need to isolate tankers by size, flag or class.
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The displayed Satellite price is US$139 for one month or US$1,399 for one year. The plan lists 90-day past tracks, up to 2,000 ships in My Fleet, port calls, terminal and berth arrivals, and proximity events involving tankers. A proximity event can show that two vessels came within the service’s event threshold; it does not by itself establish a cargo transfer.
VesselFinder’s Premium offering is terrestrial-only, while Satellite is the relevant choice for an offshore voyage. Before subscribing, confirm whether the vessels, areas and event types you care about are covered by the current plan and whether your required look-back exceeds 90 days.
API and historical-data workflow
API access is a separate commercial service rather than an automatic entitlement to the web subscription. The API exposes AIS coordinates, course, speed, draught, destination, reported and predicted ETA, voyage departure data, vessel master data and port-call information.
| API item | Published value |
|---|---|
| Terrestrial AIS record | One credit |
| Satellite AIS record | Ten credits |
| 10,000-credit pack | EUR330 |
| 20,000-credit pack | EUR625 |
| 50,000-credit pack | EUR1,470 |
| Credit validity | 12 months |
Credit consumption means an offshore feed can cost materially more than a coastal feed at the same request volume. Estimate records per vessel, sampling interval and the share of satellite messages before choosing a pack.
When it is the right fit
- You want personal or small-team pricing that is easier to see than enterprise quotes.
- You need a large watchlist, 90-day tracks or tanker-related proximity events.
- You are building software and want documented AIS and port-call fields with a separate API budget.
Kpler: positions plus cargo and trade intelligence
Kpler is aimed at professional users whose question is not simply “Where is the ship?” Its vessel-intelligence product describes live position, speed, course, heading, ETA, navigation status, voyage origin and destination, route forecasts, historical positions, port-call history and fleets of up to 5,000 vessels.
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Why cargo context changes the analysis
A position alone rarely answers whether a tanker is carrying crude, products, chemicals or an empty return cargo. Kpler adds cargo and trade intelligence, ownership and management records, sanctions and compliance screening, and satellite tracking used for oil-inventory and LNG monitoring. Those layers help analysts connect a vessel, voyage and port call to a broader commodity flow.
For example, a compliance analyst can combine a ship’s historical route with ownership records and sanctions screening. A chartering team can examine fleet movements, likely origin and destination, port-call history and route forecasts. A commodity analyst can compare observed vessel activity with cargo and trade data rather than inferring a trade solely from a destination field.
When it is the right fit
- Your work involves cargo flows, ownership, sanctions, chartering or market intelligence.
- You need multi-year movement history and fleet-level monitoring rather than a handful of ships.
- You require professional data layers and are prepared to request a demonstration or commercial quote.
Public Kpler pages do not state a standard self-serve price, so budget planning requires a conversation with the vendor.
How to monitor an oil tanker step by step
- Identify the vessel precisely. Start with IMO number whenever possible; names, callsigns and flags can change. Confirm the ship type and dimensions so you do not watch a similarly named vessel.
- Check the receiver type. Look for an indication that the current or historical position comes from terrestrial AIS, satellite AIS or a combined feed. A coastal position does not prove continuous ocean coverage.
- Save the vessel to a watchlist. Set the list size to match your plan: MarineTraffic’s free tier allows up to five watched vessels, Essential lists up to 50, and VesselFinder Satellite lists up to 2,000 ships in My Fleet.
- Set movement alerts. Useful triggers include entering or leaving a port, a change in destination or ETA, a long transmission gap, and arrival at a named terminal. Avoid alerts for every routine position update.
- Capture the baseline. Record the ship’s current position, speed, course, draught, navigation status and declared destination. Save the timestamp and source type so later changes are comparable.
- Review the route and port calls. Inspect the historical track, reported departure, predicted arrival and terminal or berth events. Compare the route with known shipping lanes and the vessel’s prior voyages.
- Corroborate consequential findings. A close approach, a draught change or a destination edit is a lead, not proof of loading, discharge, transfer or wrongdoing. Use port records, cargo intelligence, ownership data and compliance sources before acting.
How to tell whether a tanker loaded or discharged
No AIS tracker can prove cargo movement from a single map point. Loading and discharge are usually inferred from several signals:
- Port or terminal call: arrival, berth and departure events establish that the vessel reached a facility, not exactly what happened there.
- Draught change: a material change may be consistent with loading or discharge, but draught can be reported inaccurately, changed for stability or updated late.
- Time alongside: a prolonged berth stay can support a cargo-operation hypothesis, while a brief anchorage visit may indicate waiting, bunkering, inspection or weather delay.
- Voyage sequence: origin, destination, route and subsequent draught or speed changes provide context.
- Cargo and ownership layers: professional datasets can connect the vessel to commodity flows, owner or manager records and compliance checks.
Use cautious language such as “consistent with a loading call” unless independent cargo or terminal evidence confirms the operation. A tanker-to-tanker proximity event only shows that two vessels came near each other under the provider’s event logic; it does not establish a ship-to-ship transfer.
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Do you need satellite AIS in the middle of the ocean?
Usually, yes. Terrestrial AIS is strongest near coastlines and ports. A terrestrial-only plan may show a ship leaving harbor and then lose it until the vessel returns to receiver range. Satellite AIS can provide observations over open water, but it is not an uninterrupted black-box record: transmissions can be missed, providers may receive messages at different intervals, and a vessel can stop transmitting or manipulate its identifying information.
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History, alerts and watchlist limits to compare
Plan limits matter as much as the map. Before buying, write down the minimum requirements for your workflow:
- Look-back window: MarineTraffic Basic lists three days, Essential seven days, VesselFinder Satellite 90 days, while Kpler describes more than five years of historical vessel movements and MarineTraffic enterprise pages describe five years of historical positions and events.
- Watchlist size: MarineTraffic Free allows five vessels, Essential lists up to 50, and VesselFinder Satellite lists up to 2,000 ships in My Fleet.
- Alert types: confirm whether the plan supports port, route, ETA, destination, proximity and transmission-gap alerts rather than assuming every tier includes them.
- Exports and API rights: a web subscription may allow reports or spreadsheets without granting bulk API access or redistribution rights.
- Satellite scope: verify whether satellite observations are included for one vessel, a capped group or unlimited tracking.
Accuracy, latency and common failure modes
Vendor latency is not a universal accuracy score
Kpler’s published five-second average data latency and 25-second average message frequency describe its corporate service measurements. Other services may calculate latency differently or expose fewer observations. A fast timestamp does not guarantee that a vessel transmitted, that the identity was genuine or that every ocean area has equal coverage. Test representative routes before making a critical workflow dependent on one provider.
The vessel disappears offshore
First check whether the account is terrestrial-only. Then inspect the last timestamp, receiver type and satellite entitlement. If satellite is enabled, compare the gap with the vessel’s reported navigation status and known coverage conditions. Do not automatically label a gap as suspicious.
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The displayed ETA changes repeatedly
ETA is reported or predicted from changing speed, route, weather, congestion and destination data. Record each timestamped change instead of treating the latest ETA as a fixed promise.
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Two ships appear close together
Zoom to the track and inspect speed, course, duration and location. A meeting can reflect anchorage congestion, traffic separation, bunkering, pilotage or a genuine transfer. Require independent cargo or port evidence for a stronger conclusion.
The ship’s name or flag does not match older records
Search by IMO number and compare master data, dimensions and callsign. Names, flags, owners and operators can change; a name-only watchlist can silently follow the wrong vessel.
History is shorter than expected
Check the plan’s look-back window and whether you are viewing terrestrial, satellite or event history. Export important observations while they are available and retain the timestamp, vessel identifier and source type in your own records.
Cost and procurement checklist
For a personal user, start with a free terrestrial account and test several routes. MarineTraffic’s displayed consumer prices range from US$4.99 per month for Mobile Pro to US$100 per month for Essential. VesselFinder displays US$139 monthly or US$1,399 annually for Satellite. These are displayed prices and may change with tax, currency, region or plan revisions.
For an API workflow, budget data volume rather than only the monthly subscription. VesselFinder counts one credit for a terrestrial AIS record and ten for a satellite record; its displayed packs are EUR330 for 10,000 credits, EUR625 for 20,000 and EUR1,470 for 50,000, valid for 12 months.
For enterprise procurement, ask each provider to demonstrate the exact ports, offshore routes, vessel classes and historical period you need. Request details on:
- Terrestrial, satellite and roaming coverage in your operating regions
- Typical and worst-case update intervals
- History retention and export format
- Alert rules, delivery channels and audit logs
- IMO matching, identity changes and spoofing detection
- Ownership, cargo and sanctions data included in the quoted tier
- API rate limits, redistribution rights and data-retention terms
A decision framework
- Need a simple map and a few alerts? Start with MarineTraffic and upgrade only if your routes leave terrestrial coverage.
- Need offshore tracking, a large personal watchlist or tanker proximity events? Evaluate VesselFinder Satellite and its 90-day history.
- Need software integration? Price VesselFinder’s API credits separately from the web subscription and model satellite usage.
- Need to explain cargo movements, ownership or sanctions exposure? Use Kpler or another professional intelligence service that supplies those layers; positions alone are insufficient.
- Need evidence for a high-consequence decision? Compare at least two data sources on sample voyages, preserve timestamped exports and corroborate AIS-derived conclusions with port, cargo and compliance records.
Bottom line
MarineTraffic is the best general-purpose entry point, VesselFinder is the clearest fit for explicit satellite and API options, and Kpler is the stronger choice when cargo, trade, ownership and compliance context matter as much as location. Select based on receiver type, offshore coverage, history, watchlist size, alerting and export rights—not on a map’s appearance alone. AIS is an observed signal with gaps and identity risks, so treat any claim about loading, discharge, ship-to-ship transfer or sanctions as a conclusion that requires corroboration.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
