Shipping lanes do exist, and are quite heavily traveled. They're marked on nearly all nautical maps in bright pink and even have their own rules/laws, and a lot

Shipping lanes do exist, and are quite heavily traveled. They're marked on nearly all nautical maps in bright pink and even have their own rules/laws, and a lot of areas even have radio beacons to help ships into ports from many miles out. These "super highways of the sea" are very well marked and mapped. Outside of major shipping lanes there's almost zero economic reason to map the areas immediately outside of your own economic zones