Each year, over 400,000 AIS devices broadcast real-time vessel data, identity, location, course, and speed, picked up by satellites and ground stations worldwide. 

But raw AIS is unclear. It’s fragmented, inconsistent, and lacks the context logistics teams need to act with confidence. That’s where Vizion steps in, bringing structure, clarity, and actionability to AIS data. 

By transforming noisy signals into enriched, real-time insights, Vizion helps supply chain platforms, freight forwarders, and shippers make faster, smarter decisions.

What is Marine AIS Data?

AIS, or Automatic Identification System, was originally built to prevent collisions at sea. Today, it’s one of the most powerful tools in maritime logistics, used to track vessel identity, location, speed, and direction in real time.

Each AIS signal includes key information: a ship’s MMSI and IMO number, position coordinates, navigational status, and sometimes destination or ETA. These broadcasts are picked up by both land-based antennas and satellites, enabling coverage in even the most remote parts of the ocean

But AIS wasn’t designed with supply chains in mind. The data is often messy, duplicated, incomplete, or manually entered by crews with no standard format. For logistics teams trying to manage ETAs or port congestion, raw AIS data alone just doesn’t cut it.

Also read: Key Components when Tracking Vessels

Why Does AIS Data Need Analysis?

While the AIS database is abundant, its raw form poses significant challenges for logistics professionals seeking actionable insights.​

Challenges with Raw AIS Data:

• Fragmentation and Duplication: AIS signals are captured by various terrestrial and satellite receivers, leading to fragmented and sometimes duplicated data streams.​
• Inconsistent Data Entry: Critical fields like destination and ETA are often manually entered by vessel crews, resulting in inconsistencies and inaccuracies.​
• Lack of Context: AIS provides positional data but lacks contextual information such as port events or carrier milestones, making it insufficient for comprehensive supply chain visibility.

Vizion’s Approach to AIS Data Analysis

Vizion is designed to bring order to one of the world’s most fragmented datasets. AIS signals, on their own, are inconsistent, duplicative, and disconnected from logistics workflows. Vizion solves this with a multi-layered process built for scale.

• Source Consolidation: Vizion collects AIS from terrestrial towers, satellite feeds, and global data providers, combining it into a unified stream.
• Standardization at Scale: Over 7,000 raw AIS and carrier events are normalized into 60 standardized milestones, enabling clean cross-carrier tracking.
• Contextual Enrichment: Raw signals are enriched with data from EDI, carrier APIs, port terminals, and even web scraping, giving each update context and meaning.
• Streamlined Output: All of this is delivered in a clean, developer-ready API, optimized for fast integration into any ERP, TMS, or visibility platform.

Also read: How Vizion’s API Translates Carrier SCACs for Container Tracking

Identification and Tracking With Vizion

Once AIS data is structured and enriched, the real power lies in what logistics teams can do with it.

• Vessel Matching Made Easy: Vizion continuously matches vessel records using IMO, MMSI, and call signs to ensure every movement is correctly attributed, even across multiple data sources.
• Live Voyage Monitoring: Teams can follow vessel progress across oceans, terminals, and port zones with continuous position updates, no manual stitching required.
• Smart Exception Handling: Using port geofences and event detection, Vizion flags unexpected stops, route deviations, or extended dwell times, even when carriers don’t report them.​

For example, if a platform is relying on raw AIS data from multiple sources, it may face delays, inconsistent ETAs, and blind spots in vessel tracking. 

By switching to Vizion’s real-time tracking, that same platform can unify vessel positions, link them to verified port events, and deliver accurate, real-time ETAs, reducing manual work and improving on-time performance.

Integrating AIS Data into Logistics Platforms

Vizion’s API-first design makes it easy to stream AIS data directly into the systems logistics teams already use.

• TMS integration: Power dispatch, routing, and delay alerts with real-time vessel status.
• Visibility platforms: Overlay AIS and port events to enhance shipment tracking and exception management.
• Internal dashboards: Equip ops teams with live vessel data, anomaly detection, and milestone updates, automated and centralized.

One API, built to serve both sides of the supply chain, no heavy lifting required.

Conclusion

Marine AIS data holds immense potential, but only when refined into structured, real-time intelligence. Raw signals alone are not enough to meet the demands of modern supply chains. That’s where Vizion delivers real value by enabling:

• 99%+ standardization of AIS and raw carrier events 
• Unified data from EDI, APIs, AIS, rail, terminals, and web sources
• Trusted for industry-grade accuracy, consistency, and transparency

Ready to turn fragmented AIS signals into intelligent logistics decisions? Book a Demo Now!