[6] Information provided by AIS equipment, such as unique identification, position, course, and speed, is then transferred to the main Marine Traffic servers for display via the website in real time.

The site uses data from OpenStreetMap on its base map, and the paid version lets users display ship locations on Nautical Charts.

[4] MarineTraffic is highly dependent on its community of radio amateurs or AIS Station operators, its photographers and translators.

In support of the community, MarineTraffic recently made available a free AIS processing tool, under a Creative Commons license.

[9] In February 2023, data and analytics firm Kpler announced the acquisition of MarineTraffic and Fleetmon for an undisclosed sum.