How the tracker works

Data sources

Ships broadcast their position, course, speed, destination and expected arrival via the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The tracker queries this data automatically from common AIS services: aisstream.io, VesselAPI, VesselFinder, MarineTraffic, Datalastic and MyShipTracking – depending on which accounts are configured.

Terrestrial AIS only reaches about 40 to 70 nautical miles. On the high seas there are often no new reports for hours or days.

Estimated positions

If the last report is older than 45 minutes, the tracker projects the position along the most likely sea route to the reported destination at the last reported speed. Such positions are marked with a dashed outline.

Sea routes are based on Eurostat's maritime network (searoute) and use the Suez and Panama canals. Since autumn 2026 BYD's ships are transiting the Red Sea again.

Arrival times & forecasts

The ETA reported by the crew is preferred. If it is missing or implausible, we calculate the arrival from the remaining distance and speed.

If a ship reports no readable destination, we predict its next port from the fleet's past voyages: which ports followed the last port before? Only ports that match the current heading and that the ship is already getting closer to are considered. Hints like “EG SUZ” (Suez Canal) in the destination field are taken into account.

If no ship is currently heading for a port, we estimate the next call from the rhythm of past BYD calls there (median interval). Forecasts get more accurate with every new AIS report.

Your nearest port

Your country is derived from your IP address or browser language, or – if you allow it – from your browser location. From that we determine the nearest port where BYD discharges vehicles and the distance by road (OpenStreetMap routing).

Updates

A cron job queries the providers regularly and stores new positions in the database. Optionally a worker keeps a permanent connection to aisstream.io and ingests reports in real time.

Disclaimer

This is an independent, non-commercial project with no connection to BYD. All information without guarantee – not suitable for navigation.