The world is a huge place! Water makes up about 71% of its surface. Thus, an effective breakdown of the world into major areas is needed while taking into account the needs of the commercial maritime ecosystem. MarineTraffic addresses this issue by segmenting all areas as follows:
Primary Commercial Areas Covering All Waterways of the World
| AREA CODE | AREA NAME |
| ADRIA | Adriatic Sea |
| AG | Arabian Gulf |
| ALASKA | Alaska |
| ANT | Antarctica |
| BALTIC | Baltic Sea |
| BSEA | Black Sea |
| CARIBS | Caribbean Sea |
| CASPIAN | Caspian Sea |
| CCHINA | Central China |
| CISPAC | CIS Pacific |
| EAFR | East Africa |
| EAUS | East Australia |
| ECCA | East Coast Central America |
| ECCAN | East Coast Canada |
| ECI | East Coast India |
| ECSA | East Coast South America |
| EMED | East Mediterranean |
| GLAKES | Great Lakes |
| INDO | Indonesia |
| INLSAM | Inland, South America |
| INLCN | Inland, China |
| INLEU | Inland, Europe |
| INLRU | Inland, Russia |
| INLUS | Inland, USA |
| JAPAN | Japan Coast |
| NAUS | North Australia |
| NCCIS | North Coast CIS |
| NCHINA | North China |
| NCSA | North Coast South America |
| NOATL | North Atlantic |
| NORDIC | Norwegian Coast |
| NPAC | North Pacific |
| PHIL | Philippines |
| RSEA | Red Sea |
| SAFR | South Africa |
| SCHINA | South China |
| SEASIA | South-East Asia |
| SIND | South Indian Ocean |
| SPAC | South Pacific |
| UKC | UK Coast & Atlantic |
| USEC | US East Coast |
| USG | Gulf of Mexico |
| USWC | US West Coast |
| WAFR | West Africa |
| WAUS | West Australia |
| WCCA | West Coast Central America |
| WCCAN | West Coast Canada |
| WCI | West Coast India |
| WCSA | West South America |
| WMED | West Mediterranean |
A depiction of the above-mentioned areas on the world map can be seen in the picture below:
More specific areas are also defined to cover parts of the world, based on geographical criteria, as follows:
Secondary Geographical Areas
| Adaman Sea |
| Aegean Sea |
| Antwerp Area |
| Arafura Sea |
| Azores |
| Azov Sea |
| Baffin Bay |
| Balearic Sea |
| Banda Sea |
| Barents Sea |
| Beaufort Sea |
| Bengal Bay |
| Bering Sea |
| Bermuda |
| Biscay Bay |
| Bohai Sea |
| Bothnia Gulf |
| Bristol Channel |
| Celebes Sea |
| Celtic Sea |
| Chukchi Sea |
| Coral Sea |
| Dubai Area |
| East China Sea |
| East Siberian Sea |
| Elbe River |
| English Channel |
| Finland Gulf |
| Gibraltar |
| Gran Canaria |
| Great Australian Bight |
| Greenland Sea |
| Gulf of Aden |
| Gulf of Alaska |
| Gulf of California |
| Gulf of Guinea |
| Gulf of Honduras |
| Gulf of Thailand |
| Hawaii |
| Hudson Bay |
| Hudson River |
| Iceland |
| Ionian Sea |
| Irish Sea |
| Java Sea |
| Kara Sea |
| Kattegat |
| Kiel Canal |
| Laccadive Sea |
| Lake Erie |
| Lake Huron |
| Lake Michigan |
| Lake Ontario |
| Lake Superior |
| Laptev Sea |
| Ligurean Sea |
| Makassar Strait |
| Malacca Strait |
| Marmara Sea |
| Molucca Sea |
| North Sea |
| Northwestern Passage |
| Okhotsk Sea |
| Oman Gulf |
| Panama Canal |
| Persian Gulf |
| Piraeus Area |
| Riau Archipelago |
| Rotterdam Area |
| Singapore Area |
| Skagerrak |
| Solomon Sea |
| St. Lawrence Gulf |
| St. Lawrence River |
| Sulu Sea |
| Tasman Sea |
| Timor Sea |
| Tyrrhenian Sea |
| White Sea |
| Yellow Sea |
Thus, the map of the world is further processed so that these areas can be accurately defined. A sample of such a case is shown in the following picture: