Marine Data: Best Marine Datasets & Databases

What is Marine Data?

Marine data is a sub-catgory of environmental data. It contains information about marine environments and conditions around the world. It also often provides details on ship locations around the globe, so is used for maritime tracking. In general, marine data to ensure that both private and commerical ships travel from origin to destination as safely and efficiently as possible.

How is Marine Data collected?

There are many different ways to collect marine data.
Information about ships and vessels is collected through location data and trackers as well records from ports and harbors. Similarly, satellite imaging can be used to track ships’ movements around the world.
Environmental marine data is collected through various measuring implements similar to other types of environmental or weather data, such as sea level gauges and thermometers placed at strategic locations around the world.

What are the attributes of Marine Data?

Most marine datasets will contain information about ship movements. Ship speed is expressed in nautical miles per hour, or ‘knots’. Often maritime datasets will include details on vessel movement from port to port as well as current location details. These are emitted by radar signals from the vessels, which are used for maritime tracking and security purposes.
Environmental marine data will include details such as weather forecasts or tide information, depending on the scale of the dataset selected.

What is Marine Data used for?

There are many uses for marine data. Ship movements can be used to plot vessel courses or to track shipments are on schedule. Similarly, because shipping is an indicator of trade strength, vessel movements can be used for macro or microeconomic analysis, as well as for port analysis, country analysis and market analysis. For risk management, logisitics companies use maritime data in route planning to identify areas where it’s dangerous for ships to travel. This could be because the weather conditions in that region of the sea are difficult, or because that area experiences high levels of piracy and maritime crime.
Aside from business use, maritime data is often used for scientific research and analysis on natural marine environments.
Essentially, marine data is used for any kind of maritime intelligence.

How can a user assess the quality of Marine Data?

The best marine datasets will include regularly updated information to give real-time results on vessel locations and movements. Good datasets will also provide historical data so you can compare trends in shipping and see how routes or shipping capacity have changed over time. Always make sure to read the data provider’s reviews before purchasing and ask for a data sample before you buy to ensure the dataset suits your personal needs.

Where can I buy Marine Data?

Data providers and vendors listed on Datarade sell Marine Data products and samples. Popular Marine Data products and datasets available on our platform are CustomWeather -Marine Data 5-Day Global Marine Forecasts by CustomWeather, Marine Vessels & Ships - Engine Manufacturer Data by ShipsDNA, and Storm Glass Global Weather API - Marine & Terrestrial Weather - High Resolution (10 Day Forecasts & Historical) by Storm Glass.

How can I get Marine Data?

You can get Marine Data via a range of delivery methods - the right one for you depends on your use case. For example, historical Marine Data is usually available to download in bulk and delivered using an S3 bucket. On the other hand, if your use case is time-critical, you can buy real-time Marine Data APIs, feeds and streams to download the most up-to-date intelligence.

What are similar data types to Marine Data?

Marine Data is similar to Weather Data, Pollen Data, Climate Data, Land Use Data, and Water Data. These data categories are commonly used for Vessel Tracking.

What are the most common use cases for Marine Data?

The top use cases for Marine Data are Vessel Tracking.