Monitoring the Strait of Hormuz Blockade with Open AIS Data and a Raspberry Pi

Data scope disclaimer : All data in this article comes from aisstream.io 's terrestrial AIS receivers . Coverage in open water (mid-strait) is limited; satellite AIS would provide a more complete picture. All figures are from mid-March 2026 and the situation is evolving daily. What This Is In March 2026, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of the world's oil passes — was reported to be severely restricted. I built a monitoring system to observe this using free AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and a Raspberry Pi 5. This post covers the system architecture, the analytics pipeline, and what the data shows within the limitations of terrestrial AIS coverage. Repository : yasumorishima/hormuz-ship-tracker Auto-generated snapshot (every 6 hours). Shows gate line positions, transit IN/OUT stats, and vessel type distribution. Note the concentration around UAE ports and the near-empty strait center. AIS Data AIS is a maritime safety system where vessels au