Why are we updating Areas of Interest?
We are updating selected Areas of Interest in MarineTraffic as part of a broader geospatial data improvement initiative.
The goal is to make area boundaries more accurate, consistent and easier to maintain across MarineTraffic and Kpler products. Over time, some legacy area definitions became inconsistent across different area types, especially older Geographical Areas, Rivers, Lakes and some broad Trade Areas.
This update helps standardise how areas are defined, mapped and used across the platform. It also supports more reliable monitoring workflows by ensuring that area-based notifications are built on cleaner and more consistent geospatial definitions.
What is changing?
Some legacy areas are being replaced, removed, merged or made more granular.
These changes are being made for four main reasons:
To replace older area definitions with a more consistent water-layer model
Older Geographical Areas, Rivers and Lakes are being aligned with a newer Global Sea Waters layer. This layer is designed to cover oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and other navigable waters where vessels may operate.To improve consistency across geospatial layers
Updated layers are being aligned so that related geospatial areas work together more consistently. For example, Exclusive Economic Zones and Trade Areas are now structured in a way that better respects standardized geographic boundaries.To make broad areas more precise where needed
Some older broad areas have been split into more granular areas. This gives users more precise coverage and allows them to create notifications for the specific regions they care about.To remove or replace outdated areas
Some areas are being removed because they are outdated, duplicated, inconsistent with the updated dataset, or better represented by a newer area.
What is the value of this update?
The updated Areas of Interest provide:
Cleaner and more accurate map boundaries
Better consistency between area types
More precise area-based monitoring
A stronger foundation for future geospatial improvements
More reliable notification setup over time
Most users will not need to take action. However, if you have saved notifications linked to an affected area, you may need to create a new notification using the updated area after the deployment.
Below are examples of the Area Of Interest changes:
Updated with improved boundaries
Some areas have been updated where the legacy geometry did not provide the most precise representation of the real-world coastline, waterway, or navigable area.
In this release, the Singapore Area of Interest has been updated with a more precise boundary that better follows the local coastline and surrounding navigable waters. This improves data quality by reducing overly broad coverage and giving users a cleaner area for monitoring vessel activity, alerts, and area-based events.
This update supports the broader move toward standardised geospatial definitions and persistent marine area identifiers, such as those promoted by Marine Regions through the Marine Regions Geographic Identifier model.
Replaced by an equivalent area from the updated dataset
Some areas have been replaced where the updated geospatial model provides a cleaner or more appropriate representation of the same recognised maritime or inland water area.
In this release, the previous Lake Huron area has been replaced by an equivalent updated area definition so as to align with the updated area model while preserving the recognised Lake Huron water body.
This improves data quality by maintaining the real-world identity of the area while updating the boundary, classification, and supporting attributes used for monitoring and insights.
Added as newly available areas
Some areas have been added where the updated dataset supports more specific monitoring of high-value maritime corridors, chokepoints, canals, straits, and other operationally important regions.
In this release, the Suez Canal has been added as a newly available Area of Interest so as to provide a dedicated monitoring area for a recognised international navigation corridor.
This improves usability by allowing users to create alerts and monitor vessel activity around the canal itself, rather than relying only on broader surrounding regions.
Split areas:
Some broad areas have been split into more granular areas where the updated geospatial model supports a more precise regional structure.
In this release, some broad Trade Areas are now represented by more specific regional areas so as to better align with recognised hydrographic naming and regional subdivision practices, such as those reflected in the International Hydrographic Organization’s Limits of Oceans and Seas.
This improves data quality by reducing overly broad area definitions and giving users more precise control when creating notifications for the maritime regions they want to monitor.
Merged areas
Some areas have been consolidated where the authoritative source represents them as a single recognised region. This improves data quality by reducing fragmentation, maintaining consistent geometry, and aligning the area layer with the IMO Global SAR Plan structure.
In this release, the previous New Zealand West and New Zealand East Search and Rescue areas have been merged into one New Zealand Search and Rescue area. The overall boundary remains unchanged; only the area representation has been updated to reflect the recognised New Zealand SAR structure published through the International Maritime Organisation’s Global SAR Plan.
Removed or deprecated areas
Some areas have been removed where they are not supported as standard areas in the updated geospatial source model. This ensures the area layer only includes boundaries that meet accepted classification, traceability, and data-quality standards.
In this release, the previous Wake Island Exclusive Economic Zone has been removed because it is not classified as a standard EEZ area in the updated model. This avoids presenting complex or non-standard boundary cases as standard monitoring areas and keeps the layer aligned with recognised maritime boundary definitions.Under UNCLOS, an EEZ is a specific legal maritime zone beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, governed by the Convention’s defined rights and jurisdiction framework.
Most areas will continue to work as expected. In many cases, this update improves the underlying area definition without requiring any action from users.
Which area categories are included?
This update may include changes across several area categories, such as:
Global sea and water areas
Geographical areas
Exclusive Economic Zones
Emission Control Areas
FAO areas
Load Lines
MARPOL areas
NAVAREAs
Piracy Zones
Traffic Separation Schemes
Search and Rescue areas
Wind Farms
Hellenic War Risk areas
Trading Areas
Rivers and lakes
What might I notice?
Depending on the areas you use, you may notice that some area names, boundaries, or available options have changed.
For example, an area that was previously represented as one broad region may now be represented by several more specific areas. In other cases, a previous area may be replaced by a more accurately defined equivalent area.
Most users will not need to take any action. However, users who rely on specific Areas of Interest for saved filters, alerts, or historical event analysis may want to review their configurations.
Will my saved filters or alerts be affected?
Most saved filters and alerts should continue to work as expected.
However, some alerts may be affected if they use an area that has been removed, replaced, split into more granular areas, or merged into a broader updated area.
If your saved alert uses one of these affected areas, the alert will be deleted when the update is deployed. You will need to create a new alert using the updated area or areas that best match the region you want to monitor.
For example:
If one previous area is now represented by several more granular areas, you may need to create a new alert using one or more of the updated areas.
If several previous areas are now represented by one broader area, you may need to create a new alert using the broader updated area.
If an area has been deprecated or removed, you may need to create a new alert using an alternative area or event type.
If a broad Trade Area is now represented by several more granular Trade Areas, you may need to create a new alert using one or more of the updated Trade Areas. If you still want to monitor the wider region, you may also be able to use a relevant Geographical Area instead.
Will historical data be affected?
Newly added areas will begin generating area-based events from the date they are deployed.
Historical area-entry and area-exit events may not be available immediately for newly added or replaced areas.This means some areas may show events going forward, but not historical events from before the update.
Are crossing events affected?
No. Existing crossing events are not affected by this Areas of Interest update.
Crossing events, such as strait or passage crossings, remain available separately from Areas of Interest.
Why do some areas look different?
Some real-world maritime regions are defined differently across datasets. In certain cases, one previous area may overlap with several updated areas, or several previous areas may correspond to one updated area.
This is most common for broader sea regions and trading areas, where different datasets may use different boundaries or levels of detail. Where this happens, MarineTraffic will use the updated area definitions to provide a more consistent experience over time.
What should I do?
If you use Areas of Interest in saved filters, alerts, or regular monitoring workflows, we recommend reviewing your saved configurations after the update.
In some cases, saved alerts linked to affected areas will be deleted when the update is deployed. This may happen if the area used in the alert has been removed, replaced, split into more granular areas, or merged into a broader updated area.
If one of your saved alerts is affected, you will need to create a new alert using the updated area or areas that best match the region you want to monitor.
You may want to check that:
Your saved filters still include the areas you expect
Your alerts are linked to the correct updated areas
Any deprecated or replaced areas have been updated
New, more granular areas are selected where relevant
If a previous area was split, you have selected all relevant updated areas needed to cover the region you want to monitor
If previous areas were merged, the broader updated area still matches your monitoring needs
Historical analysis accounts for areas that only begin generating events from the deployment date