Vessel Positions API
Returns the latest AIS position and voyage data of any vessel or a fleet of vessels.
Vessels API service provides the latest position data for any ship or a fleet of ships reported by Terrestrial AIS stations or Satellites.
Each request to the API may address an individual ship or a number of ships and there are no limits in the number of requests.
Each API response will provide you the latest AIS position data (optionally Voyage and Master data) for all requested ships in XML or JSON format.
This service grants access to three different datasets, depending on customer’s needs:
- AIS dataset - coordinates, course, speed, heading, current draught, destination, ETA, name, callsign, IMO, MMSI, AIS type, dimensions
- Voyage dataset – origin port name and locode, country, time of departure
- Master dataset – detailed type, flag, year of build, builder, ownership, capacity, dimensions
How much does it cost?
This is a “Pay-per-Use” service where data is provided against credits. All you need is purchase some credits.
Credits can be used for all credit-based services:
Vessels,
PortCalls,
ExpectedArrivals,
MasterData
For the AIS dataset the API will charge you as follows:
- 1 credit per position per ship if the data is provided by Terrestrial stations
- 5 credits per position per ship if the data is provided by Satellites
Satellite data is recommended when tracked ships have ocean-crossings.
You are charged credits for the delivered data only.
There are additional parameters that will help you filter the returned data and reduce the number of credits spent.
How can I obtain credits?
Credits are provided on:
- Subscription basis – the price per credit is lower and credits can be used for a period of 1 month. Recommended for continuous needs.
- On-demand basis – the price per credit is higher and credits can be used for a period of 12 months.
We will provide you detailed credits pricing on your request.
Sample use cases
1) You are developing a portal for end clients who will be tracking their ships. Thus, you will regularly need the latest position data for random ships.
Your clients request the latest position of 5 ships either reported by Terrestrial stations or Satellites. The API returns position data for all 5 ships and charges you 9 credits according to the source of the data as the following example suggests:
- 4 ship positions reported by Terrestrial sources x 1 credit each = 4 credits
- 1 ship positions reported by Satellites x 5 credits each = 5 credits
2) You want to explore your competitor’s trade routes by monitoring their fleets’ position and origin ports.
You request the latest position data of 3 ships, reported by Terrestrial stations only since the ships are mainly operating in a region fully covered by Terrestrial AIS and you would also like to know the last visited ports and time of departure.
The API returns position data for all 3 ships along with Voyage information and charges you 6 credits according to the source of the data as the following example suggests:
- 3 ship positions reported by Terrestrial sources x 1 credit each = 3 credits
- Voyage data for 3 ships x 1 credit each = 3 credits
For more detailed technical information and sample API requests you can see the API documentation.
For more information about the service, specific pricing, more data samples or API trial, feel free to contact us.