Global AI Ship Traffic for MSFS: GAIST Ultra Version 6

Expert Overview

MSFS AI Ships, Boats & Global Traffic transforms Microsoft Flight Simulator by infusing its seas with over 1,000 unique ship models and thousands of repaints, creating bustling maritime routes worldwide. From my decades-long experience in the PC flight sim industry, it’s clear that Version 6.1 substantially refines both realism and performance. The traffic density feels incredibly authentic, with newly added cruise ships, ferries, and specialized vessels seamlessly populating busy coastlines, shipping lanes, and even global naval operations.

Beyond the sheer variety of vessels, the mod’s performance optimizations stand out. Thanks to refined routes, level-of-detail improvements, and more efficient file packing, it delivers smooth animations and minimal load times even when waters are crowded. In practice, it truly elevates aerial journeys by blending in everything from modern container ships to classic tall ships—bringing an unmatched level of immersion that every flight sim enthusiast should experience.

This mod was installed, tested and reviewed by Adam McEnroe for Fly Away Simulation. Adam is an FS mod expert. Read his bio here.

The latest version 6 of the GAIST global ship, boat, and maritime traffic add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) 2020 release.  Bring the seas to life with this free-to-download, free-to-use package.  This ultra version enriches coastal and global maritime routes by significantly expanding the diversity and realism of ship traffic within the simulator.

New Version 6.1

v6.1 change log:

• Maersk Helper and sisters fixed the texture display issue
• HMAS successfully fixed the texture display issue
• CSCL Vancouver fixed the texture display issue
• Dorra fixed the texture display issue
• Queen Mary II fixed the wake
• Added MSC Meravigilia cruise ship and 4 sister ships
• Added MSC Fantasia cruise ship and 3 sister ships
• Added two ferries in Greece and Turkey thanks to Manfred Siedler
• Added routes for new ships globally

More than 1000 unique ship models and more than 2000 liveries create a realistic simulation of shipping around the globe.

In version 6.1 new ships have been added and the route coverage has been expanded increasing traffic density, though the focus is as usual to have a diverse ship traffic with different models according to what you would see in real life in different parts of the world. Compared to earlier versions packing of both textures and routes have been optimized to reduce file size and in particular load on computer systems.

Among the new models in this version are several new cruise ships, like almost the entire fleet of AIDA cruises, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria. Apart from that fishing boats from around the world, car carriers, bulk carriers, oil tankers, container ships, dredgers, leisure boats, yachts - almost all major types of ships are included.

More than three hundred ferry routes are covered with their specific ferries, and you will find Navy ships specific to most regions.

Key features

• Expanded Ship Roster: Now boasting around 1,000 unique ship models and nearly 2,000 distinct appearances including repaints, this version significantly enhances maritime realism across all virtual seas.
• Increased Route Coverage: Experience enhanced traffic density with expanded global coverage, ensuring a dynamic and varied marine environment wherever you navigate.
• Performance Optimizations: Routes are now optimized in their packing, ensuring smoother performance and quicker load times at the onset of each flight scenario.
• New Ship Categories: Notable additions include several cruise ships, an array of fishing vessels from the Americas, and a surge in the fleet of ultra-large container ships and oil tankers.
• Enhanced Naval and Ferry Operations: With over 300 ferry models accurately following their real-world routes and naval exercises featuring global navy forces, engage in diverse maritime operations.
• Real-world Events: Participate in global maritime events such as NATO naval exercises, the Tall Ship and around-the-world sail races, and more immersive, event-centric experiences.

Technical Enhancements in GAIST Ultra

• Improved model Level of Detail (LOD) to boost graphical performance without compromising the quality.
• Unified global route directory for streamlined data management.
• Rich variety of ships including specialized models for Coast Guard, ferries, and leisure vessels across diverse global locales.

This version not only increases the quantity and variety of ships but also enhances user experience through detailed attention to performance and realism. Whether it's witnessing a full-scale military exercise or exploring busy fishing lanes, each session promises a fresh and authentic sea-faring adventure.

v5 Update

Hundreds of new ships have been added since the last version bringing the number of unique ship models to around 1000 and the number of ships including repaints close to around 2000. The route coverage has been expanded increasing traffic density though the focus is as usual to have a diverse ship traffic according to what you could see in each region. Routes have been packed differently to improve performance at the start of a new flight.

Among the new models in this version are several new cruise ships, and different types of fishing boats from in particular North and South America complementing the existing fleet of regional fishing vessels from around the world. Also, the increasing number of ultra-large containerships is reflected with new models the fleet of oil and gas tankers expanded, and a number of ferries have been included in particular in the Pacific Northwest and in North Europe.

More than three hundred ferry routes are covered with their specific ferries, and you will find naval exercises with Navy ships from most regions. Watch a full-scale NATO landing exercise on the West Coast of the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark or the Brazilian or Chinese navies doing the same in their respective areas. Watch the departure of a Tall Ship race from Saint-Malo, Kiel, or Sandefjord or an around-the-world sail race departing from Gothenburg... Go looking for Maersk Alabama in the exact spot she was attacked by pirates on the coast of Somalia as later depicted in the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. More than 40.000 ship movements ensure that the sea is no longer empty.

This package provides global ship traffic for coastal areas as well as some of the main intercontinental maritime routes. More than 300 ferry models serve their real-life routes. Fishing boats and ship traffic are done with locally relevant models.

Compared to previous versions V5 has

• Improved loading performance
• All global routes now joined in one folder
• More ships including among other Coast Guard units for the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK... 
• More fishing vessels... 
• More ferries including new models and routes on the English Channel, in the Meditteranean, along the US and Canadian East and West Coast, in the Baltic Sea, in the Java Sea... 
• More yachts and sailboats
• More dense traffic in general
• More models with LOD implemented for performance improvement

Models and textures by Erwin Welker, Jean-Pierre Fillion, Knud Kristoffersen, Martin Rueedi, Larry Robinson, Dexter, Milton Shupe, Manfred Siedler, Bernardo Barroso, Paul Donnelly, Finn Kristoffer, Didier ‘‘Lagaffe’’ Puentes, Andrew Thomsen, Kevair, Robystar, Antonio Diaz, Sebastien Viale, Alberto Garcia, Cxema, Pascal Dumat, Rick Keller, Lazarus Starkweather, Dave Garwood, Darren Lane, Jan de Jong, Wildlynxpilot, Sir Topham Hatt, Phaxmodels, Henrik Nielsen, and more

A great thank also to the many beta testers and a special thanks to the shipping company DFDS www.dfds.com  for providing documentation to make realistic models of their fleet of passenger and freight ferries and to DGzRS Die Seenotretter for allowing to model their 28m rescue boat Nis Randers. You can find more information about their see rescue operation and support them here: https://www.seenotretter.de/

Known issues

• Models do not have hard decks - they will eventually be reintroduced later
• Effects will display best with ground wind setting between 5 - 15 knots. Below this wind speed not much to see, they might look exaggerated.
• The MSFS engine is simple and not very stable; ships will sometimes be unstable or make strange movements if they meet other objects
• Not all ships appear in harbor areas with heavy scenery; some prioritization by the sim engine can prevent some ships from showing
• The project includes more than 15.000 textures and over 1000 model files, we do expect some glitches - if you find something really disturbing, please send me a PM here or comment on forums.flightsimulator.com
• If you experience a freeze at the start-up of a flight reduce the number of regional traffic packages active as the number of traffic BGL files has caused issues for some users depending on the system and settings. Reducing traffic to have just one or two regions active at the time should solve the issue.
• Please notice that some models are intentionally not linked to routes at the moment but they will be needed once we launch a Real-Time Version of the traffic.

Installation

Before installation please remove all old versions of Global AI Ship Traffic / GAIST and associated route files. However, if you use Global AI Ship Traffic Great Lakes you can leave this active as this version 6 of Global AI Ship Traffic GAIST Ultra does not cover the Great Lakes.

To install please unzip and drop the included file folders gaist-ultra-v6 and gaist-ship-routes_v1_2? into your MSFS Community folder.

In MSFS general options under traffic ships and ferries should be set to 5-10 % for best performance. Increasing above 10% will not add any traffic to this project.

Support

For support and additional information please follow our threads on the project on forums.flightsimulator.com, avsim.com, fsdeveloper.com, sim-outhouse.com in English, on flightsim.no in Norwegian and Danish, voovirtual.com in Portuguese, and pilote-virtuel.com in French. 

Idea and conceptualization Henrik Nielsen, KL791

Copyright Henrik Nielsen and individual file developers.

Referencing models in other projects or any other use or sharing of the models included in Global AI Ship Traffic / GAIST can only happen after written permission by the respective copyright holders for the individual models.