Chesapeake port and ships, live

The Index rates Norfolk a large river harbour. It lists yards for major repairs and a dry dock there. Its entrance channel is at least 12.5 m deep. Norfolk Naval Station, 15 km away, is one of the major ports the map marks.

• Portsmouth2 km from the centreSmall harbour · counted on the page for Portsmouth, Virginia
• Norfolk4 km from the centreLarge harbour · counted on the page for Norfolk

In 24 hours of AIS recorded Oct 12 – 19, the map heard 238 different ships within 10 km of Norfolk, one of the best-covered harbours on the map.

• NGA’s World Port Index rates a harbour by its area, facilities and wharf space when it was last surveyed, not by its traffic, so a busy terminal can be rated small. Where it doesn’t know about a facility it says so, and only what it marks as there is listed here.
• AIS is heard by receivers on shore, so coverage follows where they are: ships far out at sea, or off coasts without one, don’t show. Warships and some others switch it off, and a ship’s type and destination are typed in by its crew.
• Harbours from NGA’s World Port Index (Pub. 150), downloaded on Oct 19, 2026. The major ports and chokepoints are the map’s own reference list.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Live ship tracker, Shipping chokepoints