After a long hiatus, Global AI Ship Traffic (GAIST) is finally back—this time with Version 7, a significant update that brings thousands of ships, improved performance, and renewed compatibility with both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024. Developer Henrik Nielsen has now released Version 7 of the hugely popular freeware add-on, now available for download on Flightsim.to.
This latest version brings significant improvements for both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, including tens of thousands of ship movements, updated and new vessel models, enhanced performance, and partial support for live ship traffic in MSFS 2024. It’s one of the most comprehensive versions of GAIST yet—and a welcome return for a project that has helped transform the simulator’s maritime world.
What’s new in GAIST V7?
For MSFS 2020 users, GAIST V7 is fully stable and delivers the kind of maritime immersion that has made the add-on a staple in many simmers’ Community folders. Here’s what’s new:
- Roughly 80,000 preprogrammed ship movements—that’s more vessels across more routes than ever before.
- Increased traffic density in key regions: Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, Asia, Persian Gulf, North Sea, and the Bay of Biscay.
- Wind farm-friendly adjustments, especially in the North Sea, where overlapping routes have been cleaned up.
- New vessel models, pushing the total over 1,000 unique ships with 2,400+ liveries. These include new Coast Guard cutters and fishing boats from multiple nations.
- Previously unused ships activated, many of which were originally intended for the now-defunct GAIST Real-Time project.
- Performance improvements thanks to LOD updates across most models.
- Retirement of outdated assets, ensuring a more modern, polished visual experience.
GAIST in MSFS 2024: it works, with some caveats
Henrik confirms that GAIST V7 also functions in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, but support for live ship traffic is still “limited” due to the way the simulator currently handles real-time data. Asobo has introduced basic ship tracking, but it’s not yet close to the level Nielsen and Kai (from AIG) developed previously in collaboration with FleetMon.
That said, simmers using GAIST in MSFS 2024 can expect:
- Roughly 2,000 ships coded for live traffic, adding some movement and realism to coastal and port areas.
- Varied ship presence in ports and anchorage areas, especially around places like Singapore and Panama.
- Some dynamic movement, though largely dependent on the quality and flow of AIS data.
- Model mismatches due to the reduced set of ship categories (around 30 types vs. the 140+ used in older projects).
- Unusual behavior, like moored ships misaligned with the quay, a byproduct of unreliable AIS positioning data.
Henrik also highlights some current limitations, such as the lack of IMO number integration in MSFS 2024’s sim.cfgfiles. This means there’s no way to achieve perfect model-to-ship matches, and ferry routes, in particular, may show unexpected substitutions.
Still, there are moments of remarkable realism—like the container ship NCL Salten, which recently ran aground near Trondheim in real life, and can now be seen similarly stranded in GAIST’s MSFS 2024 environment. Go check it out!
A community-driven passion project, renewed
GAIST remains one of the most ambitious community-driven add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator. It doesn’t just add moving boats—it brings the maritime world to life, with a scope and attention to detail that few other mods can match.
While the live shipping capabilities in MSFS 2024 aren’t quite there yet, Henrik’s work ensures that the oceans aren’t empty—and that even with imperfect data, there’s a dynamic, living layer to the world that’s been missing for too long.
For MSFS 2020 users, this is a no-brainer. For MSFS 2024 simmers, it’s a promising foundation, especially as the sim evolves.
You can download GAIST V7 now from Flightsim.to.
