The map plots every vessel that is broadcasting AIS, the Automatic Identification System, in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Positions refresh about every 20 seconds. Arrows point in the direction of travel and dots are ships that are stationary; select a ship to see its speed, declared destination, crossings and track over the last 48 hours.

The dashed line across the eastern mouth of the strait is our counting line, from the tip of Oman's Musandam Peninsula to the Iranian coast near Kuhestak. Every commercial ship that crosses it is logged on the Strait of Hormuz traffic page and feeds the open or closed status. The shaded boxes are the anchorage areas we use to measure where ships are waiting.

What an AIS map cannot show

This is AIS data, not satellite imagery. IMO rules require AIS on ships of 300 gross tonnes and above on international voyages, but a master may switch it off if broadcasting would compromise safety or security (IMO). Ships running dark and most warships therefore do not appear, and the real number of ships in the strait can be higher than the map shows.

Positions can also be wrong. JMIC described mixed GNSS jamming and spoofing as persistent across the Gulf, the Hormuz approaches and the Gulf of Oman (JMIC Update 100, 27 Sep 2026). A ship that appears far inland, or jumps across the map between updates, is probably reporting a false GPS position; our crossing counts filter out such jumps.