Tool

Live vessel tracking in Norwegian waters.

Explore live Kystverket AIS vessel positions in Norwegian waters, with colour-coded ship types, speed, course, dimensions, navigation status, and recent tracks alongside offshore data.

What it shows

Coverage area

Vessel types and particulars

AIS position reports do not always carry a vessel name, type, dimensions, call sign, or IMO number. Those particulars arrive in separate static messages and may be transmitted much less often than positions.

The tracker remembers the most complete particulars received for each MMSI and uses them to enrich later position reports. As the service observes more static messages, some vessels initially shown as “Other / unknown” can acquire a more specific category, name, and dimensions. Some transmitters may never provide every field.

Recent vessel trails

Select a vessel to see up to around an hour of its recent movement. Trails are drawn alongside offshore fields, wind farms, pipelines, cables, seabed data, and other atlas layers, making vessel activity easier to understand in its wider geographic context.

Position history is retained securely for operational continuity and is not offered as a public bulk-history export.

Source and coverage

AIS data are collected by the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) and delivered through the authenticated BarentsWatch Live AIS API. BarentsWatch open API data are provided under the Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data (NLOD) unless an individual API states otherwise.

The public feed excludes fishing vessels under 15 metres and leisure or sailing vessels under 45 metres. It is limited to the Norwegian economic zone, the Svalbard fisheries protection zone, and the Jan Mayen fisheries zone.

AIS availability varies with vessel transmitters and receiver coverage, while static details such as name, type, and dimensions can arrive less frequently than position reports. The tracker remembers the most complete particulars received, so the information shown for a vessel can improve over time.

For situational context only—not for navigation, collision avoidance, emergency response, or operational decision-making. Always use official navigational systems and authoritative maritime services.