diff --git a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/parse-tracks.ts b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/parse-tracks.ts
index f076046240..ff1744a45c 100644
--- a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/parse-tracks.ts
+++ b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/parse-tracks.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { TrackField } from '@globalfishingwatch/api-types'
 import { VesselTrackData } from './types'
-import { deckTrackDecoder } from './vessel-track-proto'
+import { DeckTrack } from './vessel-track-proto'
 
 export const DEFAULT_NULL_VALUE = -Math.pow(2, 31)
 
@@ -98,5 +98,18 @@ export const trackValueArrayToSegments = (valueArray: number[], fields_: TrackFi
 }
 
 export const parseTrack = (arrayBuffer: ArrayBuffer): VesselTrackData => {
-  return deckTrackDecoder(arrayBuffer)
+  const track = DeckTrack.decode(new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer)) as any
+  return {
+    ...track,
+    attributes: {
+      getPath: {
+        value: new Float32Array(track.attributes.getPath.value),
+        size: track.attributes.getPath.size,
+      },
+      getTimestamp: {
+        value: new Float32Array(track.attributes.getTimestamp.value),
+        size: track.attributes.getTimestamp.size,
+      },
+    },
+  } as VesselTrackData
 }
diff --git a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/vessel-track-proto.ts b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/vessel-track-proto.ts
index c8ff95d68c..cd76ac187f 100644
--- a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/vessel-track-proto.ts
+++ b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/lib/vessel-track-proto.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import protobuf from 'protobufjs'
-import { VesselTrackData } from './types'
+import { parse } from 'protobufjs'
 
-export const proto = `
+const proto = `
 syntax = "proto3";
 package vessels;
 
@@ -25,26 +24,4 @@ message DeckTrack {
 }
 `
 
-const root = protobuf.parse(proto).root
-const DeckTrack = root.lookupType('DeckTrack')
-
-function deckTrackDecoder(arrayBuffer: ArrayBuffer) {
-  const track = DeckTrack.decode(new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer)) as any
-  return {
-    ...track,
-    attributes: {
-      getPath: {
-        value: new Float32Array(track.attributes.getPath.value),
-        size: track.attributes.getPath.size,
-      },
-      getTimestamp: {
-        value: new Float32Array(track.attributes.getTimestamp.value),
-        size: track.attributes.getTimestamp.size,
-      },
-    },
-  } as VesselTrackData
-}
-
-export { deckTrackDecoder }
-
-export { DeckTrack }
+export const DeckTrack = parse(proto).root.lookupType('DeckTrack')
diff --git a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/tracks-loader.ts b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/tracks-loader.ts
index d2743e6bfb..38399fbbaf 100644
--- a/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/tracks-loader.ts
+++ b/libs/deck-loaders/src/vessels/tracks-loader.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { PATH_BASENAME } from '../loaders.config'
 import { parseTrack } from './lib/parse-tracks'
 
 /**
- * Worker loader for the Vessel Track int array format
+ * Worker loader for the Vessel Track DECKGL format
  */
 
 export const VesselTrackWorkerLoader: Loader = {
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ export const VesselTrackWorkerLoader: Loader = {
   version: packageJson?.version,
   extensions: ['pbf'],
   mimeTypes: ['application/x-protobuf', 'application/octet-stream', 'application/protobuf'],
-  worker: false,
+  worker: true,
   options: {
     'vessel-tracks': {
       workerUrl: `${PATH_BASENAME}/workers/vessel-tracks-worker.js`,
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export const VesselTrackWorkerLoader: Loader = {
 }
 
 /**
- * Loader for the Vessel Track int array format
+ * Loader for the Vessel Track DECKGL format
  */
 export const VesselTrackLoader: LoaderWithParser = {
   ...VesselTrackWorkerLoader,