Global Vessel Radar

Around 80% of world trade by volume travels by sea. That makes live ship tracking one of the most direct ways to see the physical economy at work — the oil, metals, grain and consumer goods that later show up in inflation, trade and earnings data.

Maritime chokepoints. A handful of narrow passages carry a large share of global trade. The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply, while the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb link Asia and Europe. When ships divert around the Cape of Good Hope or wait at the Panama Canal, voyages get longer, freight rates rise and energy and goods prices can follow.

Tanker and dry bulk flows. Crude tankers (including VLCCs) and large bulk carriers move the raw materials of the global economy. Changes in where these ships are heading — for example more tankers sailing toward Asia, or iron ore carriers queuing at Chinese ports — can hint at shifting demand weeks before official import figures.

Port congestion and supply chains. Container ships waiting outside hubs such as Singapore, Rotterdam, Shanghai or Los Angeles signal bottlenecks. Persistent congestion lengthens delivery times and raises costs, a pattern that fed directly into goods inflation in 2021–2022.

How to read the map. Zoom into key straits and major ports, compare traffic density over time, and watch for unusual clusters or diversions near regions in the headlines.