From dark port calls to dead zones: July's MarineTraffic updates

Executive summary

TL;DR: In July 2026, we shipped updates across risk and compliance monitoring, historical AIS data access, and mobile email reliability. Highlights include: 

• A new dark port call risk type
• A daily Strait of Hormuz crossing monitor
• New vessel classification columns in the Compliance workspace
• A lightweight hourly downsample option for the AIS Historical API that unlocks 18x more area coverage per query
• Offline mode for the MarineTraffic Inbox mobile app

These updates help compliance teams close sanctions-exposure blind spots, help analysts and developers pull large-scale historical AIS data faster and cheaper, and help vessel operators, port agents, and brokers stay on top of their inbox with no signal at all.

In one sentence: This month's updates sharpen sanctions and risk visibility, make historical AIS data dramatically easier to query at scale, and keep MarineTraffic Inbox usable anywhere – connected or not.

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What we shipped in July

We grouped this month's work around three themes:

• Risk and compliance visibility: New risk signals and classification data that help clients spot sanctions exposure faster.
• Data access at scale: A new way to pull historical AIS data that trades a small amount of positional detail for a massive jump in query size.
• Reliability on the move: Offline access for MarineTraffic Inbox so users aren't blocked by connectivity.

Each theme responds to the same underlying pressure to do more with less. Clients are tracking more vessels, more risk types, and more communication channels than ever, and they need tools that scale with them without adding manual work.

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New features

Dark port calls

What it is: A new operational risk type flagging port calls made with the AIS transponder switched off.

Who it's for: Compliance and sanctions teams, risk analysts, and any client tracking vessel activity for regulatory exposure.

Why it matters: Vessels that go dark before or during a port call are a well-known sanctions evasion pattern. Until now, this activity sat in a blind spot for clients relying on AIS-based monitoring alone. Surfacing it as a distinct, trackable risk type closes that gap.

At a glance:

• New risk type: port calls with transponder off
• Already live on MarineTraffic web app and viaAPI
• No configuration needed - it's part of the existing risk feed
• See the Help Centre article for more information

Strait of Hormuz daily monitor

What it is: A downloadable spreadsheet listing every vessel crossing the Strait of Hormuz, in both directions, refreshed daily by our own analysts.

Who it's for: Compliance teams, chartering desks, and analysts tracking chokepoint activity in a high-risk region.

Why it matters: Chokepoint crossings are one of the first things compliance and trading teams check when tensions rise in the Gulf. A daily, analyst-verified list means clients get consistently fresh and accurate data without having to build their own tracking logic.

At a glance:

• Live now on the Compliance workspace‍
• Analyst-refreshed daily, both directions of transit
• See the Help Centre article for more information

Vessel category, type, and subtype columns

What it is: Three new columns in the Compliance workspace - vessel category, type, and subtype - sourced directly from our single source of truth (SSoT).

Who it's for: Anyone using the Compliance workspace to review vessel activity, particularly teams that care about specific fleet segments.

Why it matters: Clients can now identify the vessel types they care about at a glance, without cross-referencing other systems.

At a glance:

• Added directly to the Compliance workspace
• Sourced from SSoT for consistency across products
• See the Help Centre article for more information

Enhancements & improvements

• AIS Historical API - new hourly downsample option: The AIS Historical API already supported downsample=none (every available AIS position) and downsample=dynamic (at least one position every 10 minutes, plus points where course changes by 10 degrees or more, or speed changes by 10 knots or more). Thanks to Hilarion Kodia's work over the past month, there's now a third option: downsample=hourly, which keeps one position per vessel per hour while preserving a fully usable track.
• Bigger query caps with hourly: Because full-detail queries are capped to keep response times workable - up to 55,000 km² for one day, or 10 vessels for one year, per call - the lighter hourly payload lets those caps jump significantly. With downsample=hourly, clients can now query up to 1,000,000 km² for one day (up from 55,000 km²) and up to 100 vessels for one year (up from 10), at no extra cost.
• MarineTraffic Inbox - offline mode: Users can now enable offline mode on the MarineTraffic Inbox mobile app and access up to 30 days of email history with no internet connection - on flights, at sea, or anywhere signal is unreliable.

This means users can now cover the whole Persian Gulf in a single API call instead of splitting it into smaller polygons, and read, reply to, and forward emails from the Inbox app in places where they previously had no access at all.

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Under-the-hood improvements

• The hourly downsample option required rebuilding how position data is aggregated at query time, cutting response payloads by roughly 98% for a typical vessel track while keeping the track visually near-identical to full resolution.
• Emails sent while offline in the Inbox app now queue automatically and send the moment the device reconnects - no manual retry needed.
• Drafts composed offline stay as drafts rather than auto-sending on reconnect, avoiding accidental sends.
• Vessel category, type, and subtype data in the Compliance workspace is pulled straight from SSoT, keeping classification consistent with the rest of the platform rather than relying on a separate data source.

What this means for users

• Faster, cheaper historical data pulls: A question like "which vessels were in the Persian Gulf yesterday?" used to mean splitting the Gulf into multiple polygons, querying each separately, and merging the results - often just to get a distinct vessel count or ID list. With downsample=hourly, that's now one call, a smaller payload, and a faster turnaround.
• Fewer sanctions blind spots: Dark port calls, daily Strait of Hormuz visibility, and vessel type columns together give compliance teams a clearer, faster read on where sanctions risk is concentrated.
• No downtime for Inbox users: Vessel operators, port agents, and brokers travelling between markets can keep working through email even without connectivity, then sync automatically once they're back online.
• A concrete renewal and upsell point: Clients now get 18x more area coverage per API query and can track 100 vessels for a full year in one call, at no additional cost - worth raising directly in renewal or upsell conversations.

How to use these updates

• Dark port calls and vessel classification columns are already visible in the Compliance workspace - no setup required.
• The Strait of Hormuz daily monitor spreadsheet is available for download directly from the Compliance workspace.
• To use the new downsample option, set downsample=hourly on your existing AIS Historical API calls.
• To enable Inbox offline mode, go to Settings > Offline mode while connected, then choose your mailboxes, days of history, and whether to include attachments. Storage can be managed anytime from Settings > Offline mode > View and clean up.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What are the main product updates for July 2026?

A: Three areas: new Risk & Compliance capabilities (dark port calls, a Strait of Hormuz daily monitor, and vessel classification columns), a new hourly downsample option for the AIS Historical API, and offline mode for the MarineTraffic Inbox mobile app.

Q: Are these features available to all users?

A: Dark port calls, the Compliance workspace updates, and the AIS Historical API hourly option are live now for existing users of those products. MarineTraffic Inbox offline mode is a mobile-only feature and must be enabled manually in Settings while connected; a pop-up will surface to all users on next open, and key accounts have already been notified by email.

Q: Where can I learn more about a specific feature?

A: For Inbox offline mode, see the Help centre article. For the AIS Historical API, see the full API specification. For Risk & Compliance updates, see the Help Centre article

Q: How often do you release product updates?

A: Monthly, alongside continuous smaller improvements throughout the month.