Chicago port and ships, live

The Index rates Chicago a medium-sized coastal harbour behind tide gates. It lists yards for major repairs and a dry dock there. Its entrance channel is at least 7.9 m deep. Ice can restrict the way in.

• Chicago6 km from the centreMedium-sized harbour

In 24 hours of AIS recorded Oct 12 – 19, the map heard only 48 ships within 10 km of Chicago: reception here is patchy, so most ships won’t show.

• 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