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Trade and routes
Traffic through the straits
Merchant ships passing each day through the 28 most strategic chokepoints, compared with the same month in 2019–2023.
- Bachelor’s degree
- IMF data, reuse with attribution
- Quotation
- Source: International Monetary Fund, IMF PortWatch
- Updated
- Every 12 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 18 October 2026
- Method
- The IMF estimates transits from ships' AIS signals, a few days behind; figures may be revised. Routes between passages are indicative: their intensity follows the traffic measured at their ends. Sea state at each passage (waves, surface temperature, current): model values from Open-Meteo Marine (CC BY 4.0).
World ports
The world's 200 busiest ports: daily port calls over the last 30 days, compared with the same period a year earlier.
- Bachelor’s degree
- IMF data, reuse with attribution
- Quotation
- Source: International Monetary Fund, IMF PortWatch
- Updated
- Every 12 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 16 October 2026
- Method
- Merchant ship port calls estimated by the IMF from AIS signals, a few days late. Port and country names as published by the IMF. Dot size: the port's usual traffic.
Reported disruptions
Events the IMF reports as disrupting ports or maritime chokepoints, current or ended less than 30 days ago.
- Bachelor’s degree
- IMF data, reuse with attribution
- Quotation
- Source: International Monetary Fund, IMF PortWatch (disruptions)
- Updated
- Every 12 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- The IMF's list: natural hazards taken from GDACS and events the IMF names itself. Name, alert level and dates as published; the site does not comment on their causes.
Nature and climate
Current cyclones
Current tropical cyclones and their alert level, published by the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS).
- Bachelor’s degree
- GDACS data (European Commission, United Nations), reuse with attribution
- Quotation
- GDACS — Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (European Commission JRC, UN OCHA)
- Updated
- Every hour at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Alerts computed automatically by GDACS, without human checking: the cyclone's current position, dates and maximum winds as published.
Tsunami messages
The latest messages of NOAA's tsunami warning centers (Pacific and United States), over the last 7 days.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Public NOAA data (United States public domain)
- Quotation
- NOAA/NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and National Tsunami Warning Center, tsunami.gov
- Updated
- Every hour at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Official feeds of NOAA's two warning centers: category, region, preliminary magnitude and time as published. Only each country's own authorities are authoritative for its coasts.
Earthquakes at sea
Earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above over the last 7 days with their epicentre at sea, with the USGS PAGER alert when there is one.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Public USGS data (US public domain)
- Quotation
- U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program, real-time feeds
- Updated
- Every hour at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- USGS feed (magnitude, depth, place as published). “At sea”: epicentre outside Natural Earth's 1:110,000,000 land, an approximate test near coasts. Point size: magnitude.
Sea state
Wave height on the open sea, on a world grid, from wave models, with the surface temperature.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY 4.0 licence (Open-Meteo); models of Météo-France, ECMWF and DWD
- Quotation
- Marine data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), from Météo-France MFWAM, ECMWF WAM and DWD EWAM
- Updated
- Every 6 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Model values (forecast for the current hour), not measurements: significant wave height, period, direction, surface temperature. Douglas scale for the colours; a 10° grid on the open sea.
Surface currents
Direction and speed of surface ocean currents, from the Copernicus Marine ocean model.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY 4.0 licence (Open-Meteo); SMOC model of the Copernicus Marine Service
- Quotation
- Marine data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), from Copernicus Marine Service SMOC (Mercator Ocean International)
- Updated
- Every 6 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Surface current of the global SMOC model (Mercator Ocean, Copernicus Marine), tides included, for the current hour, on a 10° grid. The moving strokes follow the current's direction; these are model values.
Ocean buoys
Live measurements from the buoys and offshore stations tracked by NOAA: waves, water temperature, wind.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Public NOAA data (United States public domain)
- Quotation
- NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), latest observations
- Updated
- Every hour at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Latest observation of each station (NDBC's “latest_obs” file), kept if less than 6 hours old. Station names as published. Colour: wave height (Douglas scale).
Sea level rise
The sea level trend measured at tide gauges around the world, in millimetres a year.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Public NOAA data (United States public domain)
- Quotation
- NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), Sea Level Trends
- Updated
- Every 24 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 22 October 2026
- Method
- Relative sea level trend computed by NOAA over each tide gauge's whole record: it includes the movement of the land (sinking land adds to the rise, rising land can show a fall). It is not a projection.
Marine heatwaves
Coral reefs under heat stress, by the bleaching alert level NOAA publishes every day.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Public NOAA data (United States public domain)
- Quotation
- NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Daily 5km Regional Virtual Stations
- Updated
- Every 12 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 20 October 2026
- Method
- NOAA's levels: watch, warning, then alert levels 1 to 5, from the sea surface temperature anomaly and accumulated heat stress (degree heating weeks). Only stations under stress are shown.
Sea ice
Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent, compared with the 1981–2010 average for the same day.
- Bachelor’s degree
- NSIDC data, reuse with citation
- Quotation
- Fetterer, F., et al. (2025). Sea Ice Index, Version 4. NSIDC. https://doi.org/10.7265/a98x-0f50
- Updated
- Every 24 hours at most
- Data shown
- as of 17 October 2026
- Method
- Daily extent (area where ice covers at least 15% of the ocean) estimated by satellite; 1981–2010 average computed over the same calendar days. The latest values may be provisional.
Governance and security
Fishing effort
Where fishing vessels fished over the last two weeks, from their AIS signals: apparent fishing hours and leading flags, by 3° square.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, non-commercial use (Powered by Global Fishing Watch)
- Quotation
- Powered by Global Fishing Watch. Global Fishing Watch API v3, www.globalfishingwatch.org
- Updated
- Every 24 hours at most
- Data shown
- temporarily unavailable
- Method
- Global Fishing Watch estimates, by machine learning, the hours during which AIS-equipped fishing vessels are fishing; the data arrive a few days behind. Grouping in 3° squares and thirds by Deep Blue Foundation. Flags as published (ISO codes).
AIS switched off
Fishing vessels whose AIS signal stopped for a long time although reception was good: gaps that Global Fishing Watch classifies as likely intentional.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, non-commercial use (Powered by Global Fishing Watch)
- Quotation
- Powered by Global Fishing Watch. Global Fishing Watch API v3, www.globalfishingwatch.org
- Updated
- Every 24 hours at most
- Data shown
- temporarily unavailable
- Method
- Global Fishing Watch “AIS disabling” events: a fishing vessel's signal stopping for at least 12 hours in an area of good satellite reception. Automatic classification, not verified; it says nothing of the reasons for the gap. Vessel name and flag as published.
Vessels without AIS (radar)
Vessels that radar satellites spotted over the last month with no AIS signal, by 3° square.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, non-commercial use (Powered by Global Fishing Watch)
- Quotation
- Powered by Global Fishing Watch. Global Fishing Watch API v3, www.globalfishingwatch.org
- Updated
- Every 24 hours at most
- Data shown
- temporarily unavailable
- Method
- Detections in Sentinel-1 (Copernicus) radar images by Global Fishing Watch, matched against AIS signals: only unmatched detections are counted. Mostly coastal coverage; a vessel may be counted several times.
Maritime boundaries
The limits between States' exclusive economic zones: set by a treaty or a court ruling, drawn as a median line, under a joint regime or unsettled.
- Bachelor’s degree
- CC BY 4.0 licence
- Quotation
- Flanders Marine Institute (2026). Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase: Maritime Boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zones (200NM). Available online at https://www.marineregions.org/
- Updated
- Extract updated several times a year
- Data shown
- as of 21 October 2026
- Method
- Lines between two exclusive economic zones, simplified for the map (baselines and 200-mile limits left out). Marine Regions' categories; these data have no legal value and prejudge no claim.
