Our neighbors over at Shine Micro have come up with a nifty mash-up of AIS and Google Maps, worth taking a few minutes to play around with. You have to sign up to use the service, but it’s free, and the sign-up isn’t particularly cumbersome or intrusive.

Especially note the “Search” tab on the left, which you can use to find a vessel if you know it’s MMSI or name. Foss Maritime, for instance, names all their vessels something like [given name] Foss, so you can search for “Foss” and find all their vessels. At least, you can find all their vessels that are operating in a coverage area. So if you’re waiting for your ship to come in, and it’s the Omega Lady Sarah, she’s in the East Basin in LA.