AIS site

[mitiempo]

Here's a site that tracks AIS signals worldwide. Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions
You can see any area in any scale. All AIS ships and vessels are shown with name, speed, and direction at any given time. The symbols on the left tell you what type of vessel, eg red for tankers. There is a gallery of photos of shipping as well with most available in large file sizes. Cool site.

[GBurton]

The problem with this is it only shows vessels that have signed up for this program. In my area there are several ships that do not show up. Cool but very limited

[mitiempo]

I didn't know that. In my area (western Canada) I see everything from all the local ferries, both US and Canadian, our navy vessels, cruise ships, as well as dozens of commercial bulk carriers and tankers.

[ffiill]

Certainly here in Scotland very limited-nothing off west coast despite numerous inter island ferries.Adberdeen appears busy but Glasgow is too quiet!