msriver.live

Automatic Identification System. Every commercial vessel over 65 feet is required by law to broadcast its position, speed, heading, and identity over VHF radio every few seconds. msriver.live receives those broadcasts with a software-defined radio antenna.

No. msriver.live is an independent project, not affiliated with the Port of New Orleans, the Coast Guard, or any maritime authority. Data is received directly from vessel transponders and supplemented by aisstream.io.

GPS positions broadcast by vessels are accurate to within a few meters. Occasional bad fixes happen — vessels with misconfigured transponders may show incorrect positions. We filter obvious errors but don't guarantee accuracy.

AIS is line-of-sight VHF radio. Our antenna covers the Irish Channel stretch well. The bounding box extends from Bywater to Riverbend, supplemented by aisstream.io satellite and terrestrial receivers. Expanding coverage up and down the river is on the roadmap.

AIS Class A transponders are required on commercial vessels over 65 feet. Smaller recreational boats may carry Class B transponders voluntarily, but many don't. Kayaks, skiffs, and fishing boats generally won't appear.

Vessel markers are colored by type — red-orange for tankers, green for cargo, purple for passenger ships, cyan for tugs, yellow for fishing vessels. Unknown vessel types get a color derived from their MMSI number.

The Barge Board shows approaching vessels with estimated time of arrival — before they're visible around the bend. It's calibrated for a specific vantage point on the river (the Batture, near Audubon Park), where the curve of the river limits visibility to about 100 meters in each direction. From there, a ship can be 20 minutes away and completely out of sight. The countdown is position-dependent — ETAs are calculated relative to that fixed watch point, not your location.

AIS broadcasts two types of messages: position reports (sent every few seconds) and static data (ship name, sent every few minutes). If a vessel's static message hasn't been received yet, only its MMSI — the unique 9-digit radio identifier — is available. The name fills in automatically once the static message arrives.

Not yet via a public API. If you have a specific use case, get in touch: [email protected]