Cape of Good Hope Live
Every vessel rounding the southern tip of Africa, on one live map. The long way between Asia and Europe — the route ships take when the Red Sea and Suez are too dangerous to risk.
Live vessel positions
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Live transit data at the Cape of Good Hope — counts, flags, vessel types, and sanctioned-vessel detections versus the IMF PortWatch baseline. Filter by vessel type and period.
How many ships round the Cape of Good Hope each day?
Traffic around the Cape has surged since attacks on shipping in the Red Sea pushed carriers off the Suez route — hundreds of container ships, tankers, and bulk carriers now round southern Africa every week instead of transiting Bab-el-Mandeb and Suez. The live map above shows every vessel with an active AIS signal off the Cape, updated each minute.
Why the Cape of Good Hope matters
The Cape of Good Hope isn't a narrow strait — it's a rounding point, the alternative artery between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. When the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb become too dangerous, this is where the world's trade reroutes, adding roughly 3,500 nautical miles and 10 to 14 days versus the Suez route. It's also the permanent path for the largest crude tankers (VLCCs and ULCCs) that are simply too big for the Suez Canal fully laden. When traffic here rises, it's a real-time signal that a chokepoint elsewhere has become unusable.
This page exists because that flow deserves a free, public, real-time view — not buried behind a maritime-intelligence subscription. Watch the map. The ships are still moving.
What you're seeing on the map
- Every vessel rounding the Cape of Good Hope / Cape Agulhas within the tracking box, with an active AIS signal.
- Vessel type — container, tanker, bulk, cargo, sailing — colour-coded.
- Direction and speed — heading arrows and speed colours show eastbound vs westbound rounding.
- Live refresh every 60 seconds on the public feed.
For voyage history, sanction status, ownership chain, and cargo inference, sign in to the Strait Up Maritime app.
Geography
The Cape of Good Hope sits near the south-western tip of South Africa; the true southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, a little to the east, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Ships rounding the Cape contend with the powerful Agulhas current and some of the roughest seas on any trade route — earning it the older name "Cape of Storms." Unlike a canal or strait, there's no width limit and no transit fee, but there's a great deal more ocean to cross.
About the data
Vessel positions come from terrestrial and satellite AIS reception, aggregated across multiple providers and de-duplicated. The public live feed is delayed approximately 60 to 180 seconds from broadcast and covers the public Cape bounding box only. Commercial users with a paid plan get unredacted access including vessel detail, voyage history, draught classification, sanctions context, and ownership chain.
AIS data is broadcast openly by vessels under the SOLAS V/19 carriage requirement. We aggregate, refresh, and visualise it — we don't operate the broadcasting infrastructure.
Frequently asked questions
Why do ships sail around the Cape of Good Hope instead of using Suez?
Since attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, many carriers reroute around southern Africa to avoid Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal entirely. The largest crude tankers (VLCCs/ULCCs) also use the Cape permanently because they are too big for a fully laden Suez transit.
How much longer is the Cape route than Suez?
Rounding the Cape adds roughly 3,500 nautical miles and 10 to 14 days each way versus the Suez Canal, along with significant extra fuel cost — which is why a surge in Cape traffic is a direct signal of disruption at Suez or Bab-el-Mandeb.
Is the Cape of Good Hope the southernmost point of Africa?
No — the true southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, a little to the east, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans officially meet. The Cape of Good Hope is the more famous rounding landmark near the south-western tip of South Africa.
How current is the data on this page?
The live map refreshes every 60 seconds from aggregated AIS reception. End-to-end latency from a vessel's actual broadcast to its dot moving on the map is typically 60 to 180 seconds. The hero counter above updates each time you reload the page.
Is this free to use?
Yes. The live map is free and requires no account. If you need vessel detail, voyage history, sanctions context, ownership chain, or draught/cargo inference, those sit behind a paid plan at Strait Up Maritime.
Other chokepoints we cover
The Cape of Good Hope is one of several maritime chokepoints under continuous observation across Strait Up Maritime. Each has its own live page; the same dataset powers all of them.