Flexport Atlas

What is it?

Flexport Atlas is a free real-time map of global trade from the freight forwarder Flexport. It tracks vessels, ports, and aircraft on an interactive map, with data refreshed every 2 hours — including each vessel's precise status (moored, at anchor, or in-transit). It covers major ocean carrier alliances, sailing schedules, and multi-modal routing, and can find routes and schedules between any two global ports. Atlas is free for everyone, with coverage of all countries not sanctioned by the United States.

How to play

• Start by just wandering the map — container ships, aircraft, and ports across the planet; click any vessel to see its current status
• Search a well-known ship by name (e.g., MSC Tessa, or its IMO number) and follow where it is right now
• Open the port of Shanghai or Los Angeles to see how long vessels wait on average before berthing — the rows of ships anchored outside tell you where trade is jammed
• Switch to the 3D globe and give it a spin: the world's shipping lanes drape the planet like conveyor belts; filter by carrier alliance or "string" (a service's fixed sequence of port calls) to watch every vessel on one lane
• Free, no account needed; the map requires WebGL — on some mobile browsers you have to enable graphics acceleration in settings first