Minato port and ships, live

The Index rates Wakayama-Shimotsu Ko a large coastal harbour behind breakwaters. It takes ships up to 319.5 m long, through a channel at least 11 m deep.

• Wakayama-Shimotsu Ko2 km from the centreLarge harbour · counted on the page for Wakayama

In 24 hours of AIS recorded Oct 12 – 19, the map heard 93 different ships within 10 km of Wakayama-Shimotsu Ko.

• 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