New dataset · Early access
FinzData Nautical: global ship traffic as point-in-time data
Ships move before prices print. FinzData Nautical turns vessel-tracking signals into clean daily series a quant can backtest: 28 chokepoints and 2,065 ports since January 2019, plus our own live AIS feed, with every row stamped with the moment we learned it.
What the dataset covers
| Chokepoints | 28 straits and canals, daily transits and capacity by vessel type, January 2019 to today (79,744 chokepoint-days) |
|---|---|
| Ports | 2,065 ports: daily port calls, import and export tonnes |
| Live vessels | Our own AIS feed: 27,386 vessels seen and 975,525 positions stored on 26 October 2026 |
| Sea regions | 24 regions scored daily: vessels, tankers, and tankers at anchor or moored |
| Vessel search | Any ship by name, MMSI or IMO, with its recent track |
| Point in time | Every row carries knowledge_ts; revisions are kept as vintages, never overwritten |
What it has already shown
- Strait of Hormuz: transits fell from 82.9 a day to 6.3 from 7 March 2026 (−92%); tankers from 46.5 to 2.5.
- The bypass: Saudi exports from Yanbu on the Red Sea rose 123%, while Kuwait’s Mina Al Ahmadi fell 96%.
- Red Sea: Bab el-Mandeb still runs at 27.6 transits a day against 74.6 before the attacks; the Cape of Good Hope carries 88.1.
- Bosporus: from 92 transits a day in April 2026 to about 50 in September and October.
- Ship size: capacity per transit is up 20% since 2019, so counting ships alone misreads trade.
Built for backtests, tested honestly
Weekly Hormuz tanker transits moved with Brent in the same week (t = −3.1) and not one week after publication (t = 0.6). We publish that result rather than hide it: the long history is coincident, and the edge comes from speed, through the live feed, and from context, knowing a closure from a detour. Nautical sits beside the rest of FinzData: 16,000+ US stocks since January 2000 with delisted names, 139 futures markets, point-in-time GEX, COT since 1986 and 18,000+ macro series with every vintage.
How to get it
FinzData Nautical is in early access. Get a free API key for the rest of FinzData today, and write to [email protected] for access to the shipping data.
Questions
What is FinzData Nautical?
FinzData Nautical is a global shipping dataset: daily transits for 28 chokepoints and daily port calls and export tonnes for 2,065 ports since January 2019, plus our own live AIS vessel feed. Every row is stored point in time, so a backtest sees only what was knowable that day.
Is the Strait of Hormuz open?
Barely. Transits averaged 6.3 a day from 7 March 2026 against 82.9 a day in the year before the closure, a fall of 92%, and the week to 18 October 2026 was still 96% below a year earlier. The full analysis is in our Hormuz research report.
Can I track ships live?
Yes. Our live AIS feed saw 27,386 vessels and stored 975,525 positions on 26 October 2026. Vessel search finds any ship by name, MMSI or IMO and draws its recent track, and 24 sea regions are scored daily.
Can shipping data predict oil prices?
We tested it. Weekly Hormuz tanker transits moved with Brent in the same week (t = −3.1) but not one week after publication (t = 0.6), so the weekly series is coincident, not predictive. The edge is speed, from the live feed, and knowing a closure from a detour.
How do I get access?
FinzData Nautical is in early access. Start with a free API key at finzdata.com, read the research, and write to [email protected] for access to the shipping data.