Strait of Sicily Live
Every vessel threading the Strait of Sicily, on one live map. The ~145 km-wide passage between Sicily and Tunisia divides the western and eastern Mediterranean basins — so effectively all Mediterranean east–west shipping funnels through it.
Live vessel positions
Open full-screen ↗How busy is the Strait of Sicily?
The Strait of Sicily is a heavily-trafficked corridor in the central Mediterranean. Because it divides the western and eastern Mediterranean basins, effectively all Mediterranean east–west shipping funnels through it — tankers, container ships and bulk carriers moving between Sicily and Tunisia. The live map above shows every vessel with an active AIS signal, updated each minute.
Why the Strait of Sicily matters
The Strait of Sicily — also called the Sicilian Channel — separates the island of Sicily (Italy) from Tunisia (Cape Bon), with Malta lying to its southeast. It divides the western and eastern Mediterranean basins, so effectively all Mediterranean east–west shipping passes through it. It is not a canal and not a treaty-regulated waterway — it is an international strait.
Beyond ordinary commercial traffic, the corridor is also watched for sanctioned and "shadow fleet" tanker movements in the Mediterranean, and it is a well-known migration route. 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 inside the Strait of Sicily bounding box, between the western and eastern Mediterranean, with an active AIS signal.
- Vessel type — tanker, bulk, container, cargo, sailing — colour-coded.
- Direction and speed — heading arrows and speed colours show eastbound vs westbound transit.
- 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 Strait of Sicily is a broad channel in the central Mediterranean, roughly 145 km wide, running between the island of Sicily to the north and Tunisia's Cape Bon to the south, with Malta to the southeast. It is the dividing line between the western and eastern Mediterranean basins. Unlike the Suez or Panama canals it is not an artificial waterway, and unlike the Turkish Straits it is not governed by a dedicated treaty — it is an international strait.
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 Strait of Sicily 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
How busy is the Strait of Sicily?
The Strait of Sicily is a heavily-trafficked corridor. Because it divides the western and eastern Mediterranean basins, effectively all Mediterranean east–west shipping funnels through it — tankers, container ships and bulk carriers move through it continuously.
How wide is the Strait of Sicily?
The Strait of Sicily, also called the Sicilian Channel, is about 145 km wide — the passage between the island of Sicily (Italy) and Tunisia (Cape Bon) in the central Mediterranean, with Malta lying to its southeast.
Is the Strait of Sicily an international waterway?
The Strait of Sicily is an international strait, not a canal or artificial waterway. It links the western and eastern Mediterranean and is also watched for sanctioned and shadow-fleet tanker movements, as well as being a well-known migration route.
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 Strait of Sicily 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.