Sharper visibility, smarter decisions: How SeaOrbis is advancing AIS data intelligence

By Steven Carrell

Senior Data Scientist, Lloyd’s List Intelligence

At Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the quality of our data underpins every decision we help our clients make. That’s why we continue to invest in the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of our maritime intelligence, principles that sit at the heart of our COACT framework.

With the introduction of AIS SeaOrbis, we’ve taken a major step forward in enhancing one of the most essential inputs to maritime analytics: AIS (Automatic Identification System) data. The result? Sharper visibility, smarter risk detection, and more confident decision-making across global trade and compliance operations.

Strengthening the AIS Network: A Global View

AIS SeaOrbis has enabled us to significantly expand and optimise our global network of shipborne AIS receivers. By targeting high-impact regions, we’ve improved coverage in both congested and high-risk areas where intelligence gaps previously existed.

Here are just a few examples of the improvement in unique AIS positions year-on-year:

• East China Sea: +28%
• Persian Gulf: +9%
• West Africa: +9%
• Malacca Strait: +11%
• India / Pakistan region: +13%
• Egypt: +49%

These enhancements are more than just numbers, they represent greater visibility into global vessel movements, more precise risk tracking, and better support for sanctions compliance and operational planning.

Before and after SeaOrbis: fully connected voyages in key regions

Unique MMSIs vs. Unique Positions – What’s the Difference, and Why It Matters

In measuring AIS coverage improvements, we focus on two key metrics:

• Unique MMSIs – how many individual vessels we’re tracking.
• Unique positions – how many AIS signals we’re receiving and interpreting for each vessel.

Having both metrics trend upward is critical. More unique MMSIs ensures broad fleet coverage, while more positions per vessel gives us the granularity to spot suspicious behaviours, reconstruct voyages accurately, and reduce false positives. This dual improvement directly supports the completeness and accuracy principles of our COACT framework.

Intelligence in Action: Smarter Voyage Tracking and Fewer False Positives

With more AIS data per vessel, we’re able to build more complete voyage histories. This means:

• Better detection of anchorage stays, ship-to-ship (STS) events, and route anomalies
• More reliable differentiation between intentional AIS gaps and previously undetected signal losses
• Fewer false positives in activity classification, improving confidence in every alert and insight we deliver

By improving visibility into vessel behaviour, SeaOrbis enables faster, more informed decisions for analysts, compliance teams, and operational managers alike.

Examples of recently captured spoofing events, powered by SeaOrbis

Detecting Spoofing in High-Risk Areas

One of the biggest challenges in AIS-based intelligence is spoofing: deliberate attempts to disguise vessel activity by manipulating transmitted AIS data.

The Persian Gulf remains a hotspot for this behaviour. Thanks to the increased volume and precision of AIS signals provided by SeaOrbis, our detection capabilities have significantly improved.

We now deploy a hybrid approach to spoofing detection that combines rule-based systems with machine learning models trained to spot:

• Unrealistic vessel movements (e.g., consecutive speeds, extreme changes in velocity)
• Position clusters that are physically impossible
• Movement patterns that break maritime norms

With more unique positions available, these models can detect subtler patterns and increase our confidence in identifying spoofing events. This supports broader risk intelligence goals for clients operating in high-compliance or geopolitically sensitive areas. 

Persian Gulf heatmap: highlighting the density of unique positions over one day

Powered by Data Science: The People Behind the Data

SeaOrbis is the result of close collaboration across multiple teams, each contributing their expertise to enhance AIS data intelligence.

From engineering teams building the data ingestion pipelines, to infrastructure specialists optimising system performance, every stage of the platform reflects a shared commitment to quality and innovation.

Within this broader effort, the Data Science team plays a key role once AIS positions enter the Advanced Risk & Compliance (ARC) and Risk model. This includes

• Enhancing voyage reconstruction and vessel behaviour classification
• Improving anomaly detection and spoofing identification through advanced machine learning
• Continuously validating model outputs to ensure consistency and accuracy at scale
before

This spirit of collaboration underpins the strength of SeaOrbis: a platform where deep technical expertise, smart design, and cross-functional coordination come together to deliver smarter maritime intelligence.

London, UK HQ

More Data, Better Decisions

The SeaOrbis project represents a major leap forward in maritime intelligence. By improving AIS coverage across the globe and enhancing our ability to detect vessel behaviours with greater clarity and speed, we’re helping clients:

• Act on risk signals earlier
• Reduce compliance uncertainty
• Make smarter, more strategic decisions, faster

With AIS SeaOrbis, you get more than just data, you get insight you can trust.