Tanker Vessels
14,198 tanker vessels tracked worldwide
Tankers (AIS type 80–89) are purpose-built ships designed to transport liquid cargo in bulk within specialized tank compartments. The category includes crude oil tankers classified by size—Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs, 200,000–320,000 DWT), Suezmax (120,000–200,000 DWT), Aframax (80,000–120,000 DWT), and Panamax tankers—as well as product tankers carrying refined petroleum fuels, chemical tankers with epoxy-coated or stainless steel cargo tanks for hazardous liquids, and LNG carriers using cryogenic membrane or Moss-type spherical containment systems to transport liquefied natural gas at −162°C. All modern tankers are double-hulled as mandated by MARPOL Annex I regulations, a requirement phased in after major oil spill incidents to provide an additional barrier against hull breaches. Tanker operations are governed by the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, the Oil Pollution Preparedness Convention (OPRC), and port state vetting inspections through programs like SIRE and CDI.
Track tanker vessels worldwide
See 14,198 tanker ships on a live map, follow journeys, and get alerts when one moves.
Subtypes of Tanker Vessels
Tankers are classified by cargo and size. Crude oil tankers come in size classes — Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs, 200,000–320,000 DWT), Suezmax (120,000–200,000 DWT), Aframax (80,000–120,000 DWT), Panamax, and smaller Handysize tankers. Product tankers carry refined petroleum (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, naphtha) in coated cargo tanks. Chemical tankers use stainless-steel or epoxy-coated tanks to handle hazardous liquids — sulfuric acid, methanol, vegetable oils, and industrial solvents. LNG carriers transport liquefied natural gas at −162 °C in cryogenic membrane (GTT) or Moss-type spherical containment systems. LPG carriers haul propane and butane under pressure or refrigeration. Asphalt and bitumen tankers are heated; bunker tankers refuel ships at sea. Modern tankers are universally double-hulled.
How Tankers Operate
Tankers move on contracts called charter-parties. A voyage charter pays a freight rate per tonne for a specific cargo and route. A time charter pays a daily hire rate for a defined period. Bareboat charters transfer operational control to the charterer. Crude tankers commonly run from loading terminals in the Persian Gulf, West Africa, and the Americas to refineries in East Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Gulf. Voyages routinely take 30–60 days. Tankers spend significant time waiting at anchor for terminal slots and at sea storage when oil prices contango. Loading and discharging are tightly procedural — ship-shore safety checklists, cargo plans, inert-gas operations, and tank cleaning before next-cargo backloads.
Tracking Tankers with AIS
Tankers transmit Class A AIS like other commercial ships, but their tracking is closely monitored. Tanker draught readings reveal whether a ship is loaded or in ballast — a loaded VLCC reports 22–23 metres draught; the same ship in ballast reports around 8 metres. Position clusters at offshore anchorages near Singapore, Iskenderun, Lome, and Khor Fakkan often indicate floating storage or ship-to-ship transfers. Sanctions enforcement against Iran, Russia, and Venezuela has produced an opaque "shadow" tanker fleet that disables AIS, spoofs positions, or uses stateless flags to evade scrutiny. Analysts cross-reference AIS tracks with satellite radar and optical imagery to detect such evasion. Voyage analytics tools use AIS to estimate global oil-on-water inventory in near real time.
Major Tanker Routes and Loading Areas
Crude oil flows from the Persian Gulf account for roughly a third of seaborne crude trade, transiting the Strait of Hormuz to refineries in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Europe via the Cape of Good Hope or Suez Canal. The Persian Gulf–East Asia corridor is the busiest tanker lane in the world. Other major flows include West Africa (Nigeria, Angola) to Asia and Europe, U.S. Gulf to Europe and Asia (rising sharply since the U.S. shale boom), Russia's Baltic and Black Sea ports to global buyers, and Brazilian crude exports. Refined-product tankers move products from refining hubs in the Middle East, Singapore, India, and the U.S. Gulf to import-dependent regions in West Africa, Latin America, and Australia.
Regulations and Tanker Safety Standards
Tanker safety is governed by SOLAS, MARPOL Annex I (oil pollution), Annex II (chemical pollution), the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals (IBC Code) for chemical tankers, and the International Gas Carrier Code (IGC) for LNG and LPG carriers. The double-hull mandate followed catastrophic spills like the Exxon Valdez (1989) and Erika (1999). Tankers are extensively vetted by oil majors through SIRE (Ship Inspection Report Programme) and CDI (Chemical Distribution Institute), and accepting only SIRE-passed ships is standard for charterers. Crew certifications include specific tanker endorsements under STCW. Port State Control gives tankers extra scrutiny — defects can lead to bans from individual ports or whole regions.