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Vessels tracking in OrbitSailor ​

With OrbitSailor, you can track vessels globally or focus on specific ones, depending on your preferences. The system offers three tracking modes:

  • All vessels: Monitor maritime traffic worldwide
  • Selected categories of vessels: Focus on specific vessel types
  • Custom list of vessels: Track vessels included in your predefined list

Additionally, based on the service option you choose, you can apply an area-based condition to your tracking. This allows you to define an area of interest as either a custom polygon or an EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).

As a result, the following tracking combinations are currently supported:

ServiceTracking all vesselsFiltering by vessel typeFiltering by a listFiltering by areaFiltering by EEZ
RawAISServiceyesyesyesno*no*
PositionUpdateServiceyesyesyesyesyes

*-currently not supported

Go to Vessel Fleet Management section to learn more on how to create lists of vessels.

Vessel types and classes in OrbitSailor ​

OrbitSailor provides vessel type information in two ways. The first is the raw vessel type data received from AIS - vessel type, and the second one is the aggregated vessel class introduced by OrbitSailor

When processing a decoded AIS data stream, two fields convey this information:

  • ShipType: contains raw type information as defined by the AIS standard AIS standard set by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union)
  • ShipTypeClassAis: represents an aggregated vessel type, simplifying classiciation

Below is an example of a position update in JSON format. In this case, ShipTypeClass has a value of 1, indicating that the vessel belongs to the cargo class, while ShipType has a value of 70, also confirming that it is a cargo vessel.

json
{
   "Mmsi":413977145,
   "TimestampSat":{
      "Seconds":1737458024
   },
   "MessageType":18,
   "Position":{
      "LatitudeDeg":29.885847091674805,
      "LongitudeDeg":107.46025085449219
   },
   "SogKt":5.199999809265137,
   "CogDegrees":53.099998474121094,
   "ShipTypeClass":1,
   "Name":"HANGWAN919",
   "DimensionAm":82,
   "DimensionBm":10,
   "DimensionCm":7,
   "DimensionDm":8,
   "Eta":{
      "Seconds":1737531060
   },
   "Destination":"FILING",
   "MaxStaticDraught":3.5999999046325684,
   "ShipType":70,
   "SourceId":1,
   "ChannelId":1,
   "T5TimestampSat":{
      "Seconds":1737454207
   }
}

Vessel types ​

According to the AIS standard, vessel types in AIS data are categorized as follows:

  • 0: Not available or no ship (default)
  • 10-19: Reserved for future use
  • 20-29: WIG (Wing in ground)
  • 30: Fishing
  • 31: Towing
  • 32: Towing: length exceeds 200 m or breadth exceeds 25 m
  • 33: Dredging or underwater operations
  • 34: Diving operations
  • 35: Military operations
  • 36: Sailing
  • 37: Pleasure craft
  • 38: Reserved
  • 39: Reserved
  • 40: High Speed Craft (HSC)
  • 41: High Speed Craft (HSC), category A
  • 42: High Speed Craft (HSC), category B
  • 43: High Speed Craft (HSC), category C
  • 44: High Speed Craft (HSC), category D
  • 45-49: High Speed Craft (HSC), reserved for future use
  • 50: Pilot vessel
  • 51: Search and rescue vessels
  • 52: Tugs
  • 53: Port tenders
  • 54: Vessels with anti-pollution facilities or equipment
  • 55: Law enforcement vessels
  • 56: Spare – for assignments to local vessels
  • 57: Spare – for assignments to local vessels
  • 58: Medical transports (as defined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols)
  • 59: Ships and aircraft of States not parties to an armed conflic
  • 60: Passenger ship
  • 61: Passenger ship, hazardous category A
  • 62: Passenger ship, hazardous category B
  • 63: Passenger ship, hazardous category C
  • 64: Passenger ship, hazardous category D
  • 65-69: Passenger ship, reserved for future use
  • 70: Cargo ships
  • 71: Cargo ships, hazardous category A
  • 72: Cargo ships, hazardous category B
  • 73: Cargo ships, hazardous category C
  • 74: Cargo ships, hazardous category D
  • 75-79: Cargo ships, reserved for future use
  • 80: Tanksers
  • 81: Tanksers, hazardous category A
  • 82: Tanksers, hazardous category B
  • 83: Tanksers, hazardous category C
  • 84: Tanksers, hazardous category D
  • 85-89: Tanksers, reserved for future use
  • 90: Other type
  • 91: Other type, hazardous category A
  • 92: Other type, hazardous category B
  • 93: Other type, hazardous category C
  • 94: Other type, hazardous category D
  • 95-99: Other type, reserved for future use
  • 100-199: Reserved for regional use
  • 200-255: Reserved for future use
  • 256-999: No designation

The OrbitSailor team, in collaboration with customers, has observed over the past 12 years that the categories listed above are frequently misused. Relying on vessel type as a trigger for business processes may not always be reliable. Therefore, the OrbitSailor team strongly recommends carefully verifying the accuracy of the information provided in AIS data.

Vessel classes ​

The aforementioned vessel types are often misused. To address this, the OrbitSailor team has introduced vessel classes, grouping similar types into broader categories. This classification simplifies the process of filtering vessels by class rather than by individual type.

Vessel classes are defined as follows:

  • 0: Unknown
  • 1: Cargo
  • 2: Fishing
  • 3: Not defined
  • 4: Other type
  • 5: Passenger
  • 6: Tanker
  • 7: Tug