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.
URL: Visit APIs.json
Run: Capabilities Using Naftiko
- AIS, Maritime, Vessel Tracking, Container Tracking, Geospatial, Logistics, Ports, Supply Chain
- Created: 2026-05-25
- Modified: 2026-05-25
Credit-based and subscription REST API exposing the VesselFinder global AIS network. On-demand methods deduct credits per call; fleet- and area-wide feeds are subscription-priced. Authenticates via the userkey query parameter. Responses default to JSON; XML available via format=xml.
Human URL: https://api.vesselfinder.com/docs/
- Documentation
- OpenAPI
- JSON Schema — Vessel
- JSON Schema — PortCall
- JSON Structure — Vessel
- JSON-LD Context
- Naftiko Capability — Vessels
- Naftiko Capability — PortCalls
- Naftiko Capability — ExpectedArrivals
- Naftiko Capability — MasterData
- Naftiko Capability — Distance
- Naftiko Capability — VesselsList
- Naftiko Capability — LiveData
- Naftiko Capability — Status
| Method | Purpose | Credits |
|---|---|---|
GET /vessels |
AIS position + optional Voyage / Master | 1 (TER) / 10 (SAT) + 1 voyage + 2 master |
GET /portcalls |
Arrival / departure events for vessel or port | 1–2 |
GET /expectedarrivals |
Vessels with announced ETA at a port | 5 AIS + 1 voyage + 2 master |
GET /masterdata |
Static vessel particulars by IMO | 3 |
GET /distance |
Shortest sea route between two coordinates | 1 |
GET /vesselslist |
Predefined fleet feed | Subscription |
GET /livedata |
Predefined area feed | Subscription |
GET /status |
Remaining credits + expiration date | 0 |
GET/POST/PUT/DELETE /listmanager |
Manage the fleet watchlist | 0 |
Real-time ocean-container track-and-trace. Look up by 11-character container number + optional SCAC carrier (or AUTO). Returns origin, destination, schedule, transhipments, current vessel position, and progress. Asynchronous: 202 Accepted returned while data is fetched, poll at minimum 60 seconds.
Human URL: https://container.vesselfinder.com/api/1.0/docs
| Pack | Units | Price |
|---|---|---|
| AIS Credits — 10,000 | 10k credits | €330 |
| AIS Credits — 20,000 | 20k credits | €625 |
| AIS Credits — 50,000 | 50k credits | €1,470 |
| Container Tracking — 1 | 1 container | $7 |
| Container Tracking — 10 | 10 containers | $65 |
| Container Tracking — 20 | 20 containers | $120 |
| Container Tracking — 50 | 50 containers | $275 |
| Container Tracking — 100 | 100 containers | $500 |
| VesselsList (Fleet) | Subscription | Quote |
| LiveData (Area) | Subscription | Quote |
Credits and container subscriptions expire 12 months after purchase. Container Tracking lookups are cached 12 hours; the same container is free to re-query within 30 days.
See also plans/vesselfinder-plans-pricing.yml, rate-limits/vesselfinder-rate-limits.yml, and finops/vesselfinder-finops.yml.
- VesselFinder AIS API Wrapper — PHP, Python
- VesselFinder Container Tracking API Wrapper — PHP, Python
- Kin Lane — API Evangelist
Profile content is published under API Evangelist terms. VesselFinder APIs are commercial — see VesselFinder Terms of Use.