VesselFinder

VesselFinder is a maritime intelligence company operating a global AIS vessel-tracking network (terrestrial AIS plus satellite AIS) and offering ship positions, voyage history, vessel particulars, port-call events, sea-distance routing, and ocean-container track-and-trace through its developer APIs. The platform pairs a credit-metered AIS REST API (Vessels, PortCalls, ExpectedArrivals, MasterData, Distance, plus subscription feeds VesselsList and LiveData) with a separate Container Tracking API that returns shipment schedules and real-time vessel positions by container number. VesselFinder also runs a public web map, iOS/Android apps, an embeddable map widget, a fleet explorer, and a route planner.

2 APIs 16 Features

AISMaritimeVessel TrackingContainer TrackingGeospatialLogisticsPortsSupply Chain

APIs

VesselFinder AIS API

Credit-based and subscription REST API exposing the VesselFinder global AIS network. On-demand methods (Vessels, PortCalls, ExpectedArrivals, MasterData, Distance) deduct credit...

VesselFinder Container Tracking API

Real-time ocean-container track-and-trace API. Look up shipments by 11-character container number and optional SCAC carrier code (AUTO to auto-detect). Returns origin, destinati...

Collections

VesselFinder AIS API

OPEN

VesselFinder Container Tracking API

OPEN

Pricing Plans

Vesselfinder Plans Pricing

10 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits

Vesselfinder Rate Limits

0 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps

Vesselfinder Finops

FINOPS

Features

Global AIS vessel tracking network — terrestrial receivers plus satellite AIS coverage

On-demand REST endpoints for vessel positions (Vessels), port arrivals/departures (PortCalls), and expected arrivals (ExpectedArrivals)

Static vessel particulars (MasterData) including flag, type, dimensions, tonnage, TEU, deadweight

Three dataset families — AIS (dynamic), Voyage (last port call), Master (static particulars)

Sea-route distance and routing API with optional canal/strait gateway preferences and ECA handling

Subscription feeds — VesselsList for a predefined fleet, LiveData for a predefined rectangular area

Fleet watchlist management via ListManager (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)

Container Tracking API — track ocean-freight containers by container number with optional SCAC carrier

Asynchronous container lookups with 202 polling and 12-hour caching

Credit-metered AIS billing (terrestrial 1 credit, satellite 10 credits, master 2–3 credits, distance 1 credit)

Prepaid AIS credit packs (10k / 20k / 50k) priced in EUR; container subscriptions priced in USD

JSON (default) and XML response formats

API key authentication via the userkey query parameter

Reference taxonomies — Flag Codes, AIS Ship Types, AIS NavStat

Official PHP and Python wrapper libraries on GitHub for both AIS and Container Tracking APIs

VesselFinder web platform, iOS/Android apps, embeddable maps, fleet explorer, and route planner

Semantic Vocabularies

Vesselfinder Context

0 classes · 6 properties

JSON-LD

API Governance Rules

VesselFinder API Rules

9 rules · 6 errors 3 warnings

SPECTRAL

JSON Structure

Vesselfinder Vessel Structure

0 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Example Payloads

Vesselfinder Container Tracking Example

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Vesselfinder Distance Example

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Vesselfinder Status Example

2 fields

EXAMPLE

Resources

Documentation

Documentation

GettingStarted

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

TermsOfService

PrivacyPolicy

Application

Application

GitHubOrganization

GitHubOrganization

Sources

opencollection: 1.0.0
info:
  name: VesselFinder Container Tracking API
  version: '1.0'
request:
  auth:
    type: apikey
    key: apiKey
    value: '{{apiKey}}'
    placement: query
items:
- info:
    name: Containers
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Track Container
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://container.vesselfinder.com/api/1.0/container/:apiKey/:containerNumber/:sealine
      params:
      - name: apiKey
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Personal API key for the Container Tracking service.
      - name: containerNumber
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: 11-character container number (four letters + seven digits).
      - name: sealine
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: '4-character carrier SCAC code (e.g. `MSCU`). Use `AUTO` to let the service

          auto-detect the carrier.

          '
    docs: 'Look up the shipment for the specified container. Returns container origin,

      destination, current vessel position, progress, and schedule events. May respond

      with 202 Accepted while the request is processing — clients should poll the same

      URL no faster than every 60 seconds. Typical processing time is under one minute

      and may extend up to 15–20 minutes in worst case.

      '
bundled: true