Monitoring Trade Disruptions from Space

PortWatch is an open platform designed to monitor and simulate disruptions to maritime trade flows. The platform helps policymakers and the public assess the impact of realized and future trade shocks based on real-time data sourced from the UNGP.

Access Data:

Access all data that power the PortWatch platform here.

New: Economy Monitor pages

Dive into PortWatch data on portcalls, incoming and outgoing shipments at an aggregated level for all economies and regions in the world. A nowcasting model of economy-level value and volume trade is also available for selected economies.

Global Trade Tensions page

Dive into PortWatch data showcasing containership port calls and shipments to monitor changes in maritime trade globally and for key economies.

Trade Nowcast Page

PortWatch now offers a Trade Nowcast page with a nowcasting model of global trade, based on the IMF Working Paper "Nowcasting Global Trade from Space" (Arslanalp et al., 2025). It uses real-time satellite data, with monthly updates and weekly revisions.

Trade Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz