MarineRadar’s Route Planner helps you create a planned sea route by setting your starting point, destination, intermediate stops, travel date and time, expected speed, and whether you want to avoid canals.
Instead of simply watching ships move on a live map, you can use the Route Planner to think ahead and understand how a voyage may unfold. You can add stops along the way, adjust the planned departure time, set a vessel speed, and choose an alternative route when you do not want the journey to pass through canals.
In this guide, we’ll explain how to use the MarineRadar Route Planner, what each option does, and how these controls can help you create a more useful route plan.
From Watching Ships to Planning Routes
MarineRadar is best known as a platform for exploring vessel movements and maritime traffic. However, route planning adds a different type of experience.
When you follow a ship on a live map, you are looking at current or recently received vessel information. With a route planner, you are creating a possible journey between locations.
For example, imagine you want to explore a journey from one coastal city to another. You might want to:
- Start from a specific port.
- Stop at another port along the way.
- Set a planned departure date and time.
- Enter an expected vessel speed.
- Avoid canals.
- Review the resulting route.
Instead of looking at a blank map and guessing, the Route Planner provides a more structured way to plan your journey.
How to Use the MarineRadar Route Planner?
The exact interface may change as MarineRadar continues to update its platform. However, the main planning workflow centers around selecting locations and adjusting the available route options.
Here is a simple step-by-step process.
Step 1: Open MarineRadar.
Start by opening the MarineRadar website or app, then access the map experience.
The map provides a visual overview of the maritime world, making it easier to understand coastlines, ports, islands, and surrounding waters before creating your route.
If you are new to ship tracking, take a moment to explore the map first. This can help you understand where your planned journey will take place.
Step 2: Open the Route Planner.
The purpose of this tool is to help you plan a journey between different points rather than simply following an existing vessel.
Depending on the route you want to explore, you can plan a simple journey between two locations or create a more detailed trip with additional stops.
Step 3: Choose Your Starting Point
Select the location where your planned journey will begin.
This could be:
- A port
- A coastal location
- Another suitable point on the map
Choosing the correct starting point is important because it determines the route’s beginning.
For example, if you are planning a research journey, you might select a major commercial port.
If you are planning a recreational journey, choose a marina or a coastal starting point.
Step 4: Select Your Destination
Next, choose where you want the route to end.
Your destination could be another port or a location in a different region.
Once you have selected your starting point and destination, MarineRadar can help visualize the planned journey between them.
This is especially useful when the two locations are far apart, as a map makes the relationship between them much easier to understand.
Step 5: Add Stops Along the Route
One of the most useful Route Planner controls is the ability to add stops.
Instead of planning only:
Start → Destination
You can create a journey such as
Start → Stop 1 → Stop 2 → Destination
This is helpful because real-world sea journeys are not always simple point-to-point trips.
A vessel may need to:
- Visit multiple ports.
- Stop for supplies.
- Make scheduled calls.
- Follow a particular itinerary.
- Travel through several regions.
How to add stops:
- Open your planned route.
- Select the option to add Stop.
- Choose the next location you want the route to pass through.
- Continue adding stops as needed.
- Review the route sequence.
Adding stops gives you greater control over the journey and helps create a more realistic route scenario.
For example, someone studying international shipping could create a route that connects several major ports.
A cruise enthusiast could use stops to understand how a multi-port cruise itinerary might look.
Step 6: Set the Date and Time
The route planner also includes a date and time option. This allows you to specify when you want the planned journey to begin or be considered.
Why does this matter?
Because time is an important part of voyage planning. The same journey can have a different planning context depending on when it starts.
For example, you might want to compare:
- A morning departure.
- An evening departure.
- A weekday journey.
- A weekend journey.
- A journey planned for a future date.
How to use the date and time option
- Open the date and time settings in the Route Planner.
- Select your preferred date.
- Choose the relevant departure time.
- Continue configuring the route.
- Review the planned journey with your selected timing.
The date and time setting is particularly useful when creating a route plan for a specific scenario.
Step 7: Enter the Planned Speed
Another important route planner option is speed. A vessel’s speed directly affects how long a journey takes. Therefore, entering a suitable planned speed can make your route estimate more meaningful.
For example, a fast passenger vessel and a large cargo ship may travel at different speeds. If you use the same speed for both, the estimated journey duration may not represent the same type of voyage.
How to use the speed option
- Open the speed setting.
- Enter or select the planned vessel speed.
- Make sure the speed is reasonable for the vessel or journey you are considering.
- Review how the route plan changes.
Speed can be useful when comparing different scenarios.
Step 8: Choose Whether to Avoid Canals
The route planner also provides an “Avoid Canals” option. This is an important control because canals can significantly influence maritime routes.
Some voyages may naturally use major canals to shorten the distance between regions. However, there are situations where a user may want to explore a route that does not pass through canals.
How to use the Avoid Canals option
- Open the Route Planner.
- Create your starting point and destination.
- Look for the Avoid Canals option.
- Enable this option to exclude canal routes.
- Review the resulting route.
This feature is especially interesting when planning journeys between regions where canals may provide a shorter connection.
Keep in mind that avoiding canals can make a journey longer. The alternative route may travel around a larger body of land instead of passing through a canal.
Step 9: Review Your Complete Route
After setting your:
- Starting point
- Destination
- Stops
- Date and time
- Speed
- Canal preference
- Review the complete route.
Look at the map carefully and check whether the planned route aligns with your goal.
Ask yourself:
- Does the route pass through the locations I selected?
- Are my stops in the correct order?
- Is the planned speed reasonable?
- Did I choose the correct date and time?
- Do I want to avoid canals?
- Does the route make sense geographically?
This final review helps you catch mistakes before using the route for research, learning, or planning.
Route Planner vs. Live Ship Tracking
It is easy to confuse route planning with live ship tracking, but they serve different purposes.
Live Ship Tracking
Live tracking helps you monitor the vessel’s actual activity.
You can use it to explore:
- Current vessel positions.
- Ship speed.
- Vessel direction.
- Destination information.
- AIS-based movement data.
Route Planner
Route planning focuses on creating or exploring a potential journey.
You can use it to:
- Plan a route.
- Add stops.
- Set date and time.
- Adjust speed.
- Avoid canals.
- Explore different journey scenarios.
In simple terms:
Live tracking shows what is happening.
Route planning helps you explore what a journey could look like.
Using both together can provide a much richer understanding of maritime activity.
Route Planner vs. Historical Route Playback
MarineRadar users may also encounter historical route or track information. This is different from route planning, too. Historical playback shows a vessel’s past movements.
For example, see where a ship travelled yesterday or how it moved during a previous voyage.
Route planning, on the other hand, creates a planned journey.
Think of the three features this way:
Feature | Main Purpose |
Live Tracking | See vessel activity now. |
Route History | Review past vessel movement |
Route Planner | Explore or plan a possible journey |
Understanding this difference prevents confusion when using MarineRadar for research or maritime exploration.
Who Can Benefit From the Route Planner?
The feature can be useful for many different types of users.
Ship Enthusiasts
People who enjoy following ships can use the planner to explore possible journeys between ports and regions.
Maritime Students
Students can use route planning to understand how geography, speed, and waterways influence maritime transportation.
Researchers
Researchers can create route scenarios and compare how different planning choices affect a journey.
Logistics Learners
Those interested in global shipping can explore the relationship between ports, routes, and maritime transportation.
Travelers and Cruise Fans
Cruise enthusiasts can use stop and route-planning concepts to understand how multi-destination sea journeys are organized.
Why the New Route Planner Makes MarineRadar More Useful?
The biggest advantage of route planning is that it adds planning context to a platform built around maritime visibility.
To understand maritime movement better, you also need to think about:
- Where a vessel starts.
- Where is it going?
- Which places may it visit?
- How fast does it travel?
- When the journey begins.
- Whether canals influence the route.
The route planner brings these ideas together into a single planning experience.
The addition of stops, date and time, speed, and canal avoidance also makes the feature more flexible than a simple start-and-end route.
For example, you could create two different scenarios:
Route A: Includes several stops and uses a canal.
Route B: Includes the same stops but avoids canals.
Then, you can consider how the route changes when you adjust the planned speed or departure time.
This makes route planning a useful tool for learning and exploration rather than simply drawing a line on a map.
Important Things to Remember When Planning a Sea Route
A route planner can be extremely useful, but it should not be treated as a replacement for professional navigation systems.
Actual maritime routes can change because of:
- Weather.
- Sea conditions.
- Port congestion.
- Traffic.
- Temporary restrictions.
- Vessel capabilities.
- Local regulations.
- Canal availability.
- Operational decisions.
Therefore, a planned route should be understood as a planning or exploration tool.
For professional navigation, mariners should always rely on appropriate official nautical charts, navigation systems, notices to mariners, and other required safety information.
Conclusion
MarineRadar’s Route Planner gives users a simple way to explore and organize sea journeys by combining locations with practical planning controls. You can select a starting point and destination, add stops, choose a date and time, adjust the expected speed, and enable Avoid Canals when you want to explore a route that does not use canal passages.
For beginners, it is an easy way to learn about maritime routes. For researchers and ship enthusiasts, it provides a useful way to explore different journey scenarios. And when combined with MarineRadar’s live vessel tracking and historical movement information, it gives users a broader view of how ships move across the world’s waterways.
Download MarineRadar: Vessel Tracker from the Google Play Store or App Store today and experience real-time ship tracking.
FAQs
1. What is the MarineRadar Route Planner?
The Route Planner is a feature that helps users create and explore planned sea routes between locations.
2. Can I add stops to a MarineRadar route?
Yes. The Route Planner includes an Add Stops option that lets you add intermediate locations between your starting point and final destination.
3. Is Route Planner the same as live ship tracking?
No. Live ship tracking shows vessel movements based on available tracking data, while Route Planner is used to explore or plan a potential journey.
4. Can beginners use MarineRadar Route Planner?
Yes. The combination of map-based planning and simple controls makes it accessible for beginners who want to learn how sea routes work.
5. Why would someone avoid canals when planning a route?
Avoiding canals can help users compare alternative routes, study different maritime pathways, or explore journeys that do not pass through canal passages.
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