Vessel Density Maps for Northwest Atlantic Shipping from 2013 to 2022

2019 AIS data was analyzed to create yearly and monthly vessel density maps for the Northwest Atlantic, depicting pre-pandemic maritime traffic. The dataset now includes processed density maps for the years 2013 through 2022, providing a time series for spatial analysis. It was produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada using satellite and terrestrial Automatic Identification System tracking.

Use Cases

• Analyze vessel density patterns across the Northwest Atlantic for marine spatial planning using yearly GEOTIF maps.
• Compare monthly shipping activity in 2019 to identify seasonal traffic fluctuations from the monthly density maps.
• Study long-term trends in maritime transport by examining the time series of yearly density maps from 2013 to 2022.
• Assess the spatial footprint of different vessel classes using the yearly density maps segmented by class.

Strengths

• Provides a 10-year time series of vessel density from 2013 to 2022 for longitudinal analysis.
• Includes data for the year 2019, offering a pre-COVID-19 pandemic baseline of maritime activity.
• Offers multiple analytical outputs including combined vessel maps and maps segmented by individual vessel class.
• Data is provided in multiple geospatial formats (FGDB/GDB, GEOTIF, ESRI REST) for different toolchains.

Limitations

• The underlying raw AIS message data (rows, columns) is not directly accessible; only processed density map products are available.
• Density maps are derived aggregates, limiting analysis to the provided spatial resolutions and time intervals (yearly/monthly).
• Focus is exclusively on the Northwest Atlantic region, which may not be representative of global shipping patterns.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Collection Method

Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis of satellite-based and terrestrial-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracking data.

Time Range

2013 to 2022, with detailed monthly data for 2019.

Freshness

Process includes data up to 2022; metadata was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Northwest Atlantic.