Datalastic collects data from its own data-receiving towers around the globe. We also engage with thousands of other resources where we gather, aggregate, cleanse and structure data making it available and easy for you.

• 800000 Vessels
• 22000 Ports
• Global Coverage

Datalastic provides an easy way to get real-time vessel tracking data, marine location traffic data, ports info, historical ship data, and more.

This Datalastic API documentation can be used as a guideline for any common programming language. It provides guidelines for integration, query parameters, general filters available, and the response objects examples.

If you have any questions that are not covered in this API documentation please write us an email at support@datalastic.com

Access the Maritime API Key

Any API Key in any subscription package (Starter, Experimenter Developer Pro+) has an access to all API endpoints. The main differences between the packages are number of calls to the database and level of Datalastic support.

To obtain the API key follow these steps:
1. Go to Pricing
2. Subscribe to Maritime API Plan
3. Instantly receive an email with your API key that you apply in the query part labeled as

{YOUR_API_KEY}

To connect to Datalastic API, use the {YOUR_API_KEY} parameter with any valid API endpoint URL and set it to your access key.

api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/stat?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}

API Endpoints

Each datatype in Datalastic database has its own unique Endpoint. The Endpoints are described in the API Endpoints section here below.

Ship Info Endpoint example

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_info

Port Info Endpoint example

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/port_find

Programming Languages Codes examples

Datalastic supports many major programming languages. The selection of the programming languages examples below is illustrative and Datalastic API is not limited to these languages only.

Database Requests Usage

Each Datalastic API subscription has a monthly database request package that allows you to access the database and consume the database request points.

Starter plan - 20000 DB requests/month

Experimenter - 80000 DB requests/month

Developer Pro - unlimited

Each request to the Datalastic database is an API call. Depending on which endpoint you are going to call, a different number is subtracted from your subscription monthly package. See the guide on API calls usage based on each endpoint as described below:

Upon reaching the max monthly calls you can choose to upgrade to a higher plan or to wait until the package renewal date.

You can always find your request statistics and current usage by calling this API

Example API Request

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/stat?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}

Example API Response:

Request your monthly usage report:

You can extract a report of the log file of your API key historical requests.

It is done in a form of a report that you can download whenever you require.

The report shows you how many API requests are used, with dates, and what endpoints.

You can check the reports endpoint, follow the instructions and download your own report.

Overuse protection: we want to be fair, so only successful requests are deducted from your total monthly package. If there is a mistake in the API request or the vessel parameter cannot be found for some other reason, we do not deduct it from your monthly package.

Maritime Values Legend

This table shall help you understand maritime terminologies as well as measure units that Datalastic uses in its database.

List of all Ship Types and Subtypes in the database

There is a combination of 306 vessel types and subtypes in the Datalastic Database. This allows a user to find very specific information about a particular vessel, but also it allows you to narrow down your search in Vessel Finder API.

If you need to find all vessels that match the type "Cargo" for example, you can easily do that with Vessel Finder API. Requesting a specific type or/and subtype you need to use the terminologies as in the table below.

Example API Request

http://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_find?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&type_specific=Nuclear%20Fuel%20Carrier

Possible Other Types and Subtypes Values

Common Errors

If your API request is not successful, Datalastic will return an error with an error code and an error message.

⛵ API Endpoints

Live Ship Tracking API

Real-time ship tracking API has 3 Endpoints to make sure our API is as flexible as possible:

1. Basic: /vessel - very fast and has all the most popular real-time tracking data such as location, speed, course, destination, type, subtype, and more. The average API request response time is 0.005 sec.

2. Pro: /vessel_pro - provides all data from Basic version plus extended additional data apart. Pro version provides Estimated Time of Arrival, Actual Time of Departure, current draft, standardized destination name. The average API request response time is 0.9 sec.

3. Bulk: /vessel_bulk -  lets you call up to 100 vessels in a single string. It has all data as in the Basic real-time tracking.

Choose if you need to have fast and the most essential data to achieve an excellent response time speed or you require extended data with the Pro version.

1. Basic Live Ship Tracking API

Basic Live Ship Tracking API Endpoint contains the most popular values that are searched by users. The API response has data on Vessel Name, MMSI number, IMO number, UUID, country code, vessel type and subtype with Hazard level if available, the position expressed in longitude and latitude, speed, course, heading, navigational status, destination, and the timestamp. This Endpoint is very fast. The response time is 0.005 seconds on average.

If you also require Estimated Time of Arrival, Actual Time of Departure, Current Draft, and unlocode destination and departure ports, please check "2. Pro Live Ship Tracking API".

Example Basic Live Ship Tracking API Request

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}

Request Parameters:

api-key- Your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number

imo– Vessel IMO number

Here are 3 examples using UUID, MMSI and IMO of the vessels

Response Example:

2. Pro Live Ship Tracking API

Pro Live Ship Tracking API Endpoint has extra values on top of the basic data. The API response has data on Vessel Name, MMSI number, IMO number, UUID, country code, vessel type and subtype with Hazard level if available, the position expressed in longitude and latitude, speed, course, heading, navigational status, destination, Estimated Time of Arrival, Actual Time of Departure, Current Draft, unlocode destination and departure ports and a timestamp. The response time is more slow than the Basic Live Ship Tracking API with 0.9 seconds of an API response time on average.

Example Pro Live Ship Tracking API Request

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_pro?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}

Request Parameters:

api-key- Your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number

imo– Vessel IMO number

Here are 3 examples using UUID, MMSI and IMO of the vessels

Response Example:

3. Bulk Live Ship Tracking API - 100 Vessels

Bulk Live Ship Tracking API allows you to make up to 100 API calls in 1 string. You can add the vessels you need the data for one after another in 1 query and retrieve your result.

Bulk Live Ship tracking API contains the same data as the Basic Live Ship Tracking API.  The API retrieves data on Vessel Name, MMSI number, IMO number, UUID, country code, vessel type and subtype with Hazard level if available, the position expressed in longitude and latitude, speed, course, heading, navigational status, destination, and a timestamp.

Example Pro Live Ship Tracking API Request

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_bulk?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}

Request Parameters:

api-key- Your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number

imo– Vessel IMO number

Here is an example of a bulk API call with 2 vessels where we used MMSI parameter for one and IMO for another one

Response Example:

Location Traffic Tracking API

Location Traffic Tracking API allows you to scan an area in the sea or ocean to see all the ships in your selected area. This API Endpoint lets you find and track all the vessels in the radius and monitor maritime traffic in your zone.

You can use Static or Dynamic Location Tracking as described below:

Static Location Tracking - Choose a static point on the map for example select a port by its UN/LOCODE or by defining it longitude and latitude and select the radius around that point to see all vessels that are currently in your selected zone.

For example, you can select a port and access vessel traffic coming in and out of your port.

Example Static Location Tracking API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_inradius?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}&radius={RADIUS_VALUE}

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

lat–  geo-coordinates of the zone center. Latitude of your static center point. Also requires lon parameter.

lon– geo-coordinates of the zone center. Longitude of your static center point. Also requires lat parameter.

port_uuid– The search will be performed in a radius with the center in the Port with this UUID.

port_unlocode– The search will be performed in a radius with the center in the Port with this UNLOCODE.

radius– radius from center the point defined by lat and long expressed in Nautical Miles (NM). Maximum of 60NM

type– an optional filter to show only a specific type of a vessels in your selected area. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type_specific

type_specific– an optional filter to show only a specific subtype of a vessels in your selected area. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type

exclude- an optional filter to exclude certain vessels types from the API response. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type.

_empty_- to include or exclude vessels that its type marked as NULL.

nav_status– an optional numerical filter, that allows retrieving only vessels with a chosen navigational status. {PARAMETER_NUMBER} is a navigational status number, for example, nav_status=7 stands for vessels "Engaged In Fishing". 

Dynamic Location Tracking - Instead of defining the longitude and latitude of some point on earth, you can choose a vessel by its MMSI or IMO number to be the center point and select the radius around it. In this way you can track all vessels approaching your selected ship and see all vessels approaching the zone around it.

Example Dynamic Location Tracking API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_inradius?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_NUMBER}&radius={RADIUS_VALUE}

Request Parameters:

api-key - Your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number. Use as {PARAMETER}

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number. Use as {PARAMETER}

imo– Vessel IMO number. Use as {PARAMETER}

radius– radius from center the point defined by MMSI or IMO or UUID expressed in Nautical Miles (NM). Maximum of 50NM

type– an optional filter to show only a specific type of a vessels in your selected area. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type_specific

type_specific– an optional filter to show only a specific subtype of a vessels in your selected area. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type

exclude- an optional filter to exclude certain vessels types from the API response. Can be used on its own or in a combination with type.

_empty_- to include or exclude vessels that its type marked as NULL.

Here are 2 examples of static location traffic tracking API and dynamic location traffic tracking API.

Response Example:

Historical Vessel Data API

At this moment there are 2 endpoints with historical data:

• /vessel_history - Ship History Data API. Search by vessel and timestamp. See vessel location and other events throughout your chosen dates.
• report "inradius_history" - Historical Location API. Choose a specific location and a timestamp and see all vessels that pass through your selected zone in the selected timeframe.

Ship History Data API

Datalastic saves its data from Live Ship Tracking API and stores the data on its servers. You can access the data easily and see vessel historical movement, activities speed, course, heading, destination and more.

Historical data API records are available since 10th August 2021.

Specify the time frame you want to receive the data for your vessel and view past movements of your ship.

Example Historical Vessel Data API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_history?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}&from={YYYY-MM-DD}&to={YYYY-MM-DD}

or

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_history?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}&days={NUMBER_OF_DAYS}

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number. Use as {PARAMETER}

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number. Use as {PARAMETER}

imo– Vessel IMO number. Use as {PARAMETER}

days– an optional filter, shows data for the last {NUMBER_OF_DAYS} from today. For example, days=7 will show you the vessel data for the last 7 days from today.

fromtoan optional filter, define a specific time frame in the past when the data is required in YYYY-MM-DD format. 30 days maximum since from.

Note: To optimize data storage, we save only new data updates in historical endpoints. That means that if a vessel was docked for a few days and the data has not changed on that vessel, there are no new records for those dates as the data is the same.

Here are 3 examples of Historical Vessel Data API queries.

Response Example:

Ship Specs Info

There's two endpoints that allows you to get detailed data about a vessel specifications:

• Ship Specs Info API "Vessel_info": Through a single API request you can retrieve all the detailed data about a vessel specifications.
• Ship Specs Info "Vessel_list": Download a full list of vessels with the detailed specifications. You can check the reports endpoint to follow the instructions and download your own report.

Ship Specs Info API

Get detailed data about a vessel specifications. Find ships name, IMO, MMSI, UUID, Call Sign, country, type, subtype, draft, TEU unit of cargo capacity, deadweight, liquid gas capacity, length, breadth, average draught, maximum draught, average speed, maximum speed, year built, homeport, activity status.

Example Ships Specs Info API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_info?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

uuid– Vessel UUID number. Use as {PARAMETER}

mmsi– Vessel MMSI number. Use as {PARAMETER}

imo– Vessel IMO number. Use as {PARAMETER}

Here is an example of Ship Specs Request:

Ship Specs Info Response Example:

Vessel Finder API

You can search and withdraw all vessels by type, similar names, draught, deadweight, year built, and more. You dont need to know vessel MMSI or IMO for this endpoint, just filter the search criteria and receieve the API response with all vessels matching your parameters.

There is overuse protection installed in a form of pagination. The Response retrieves 500 results maximum, to view the following 500 results you need to embed the "next" parameter in meta. You can find a detailed explanation below.

Example Vessel Finder API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_find?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

name– vessel name, for example, "Erica"

fuzzy- allows you to broaden name parameter search. Fuzzy=0 means you are searching for an exact match of the name parameter. If you set up fuzzy=1 Datalastic API will search for a similar name parameter value, for example, "Eric" and "Erica" will appear for "Erica" search.

type– Vessel Type. See the full list of parameter values in Ship Types.

type_specific– vessel subtype. It can be used on its own or in a combination with type

country_iso– country of the vessels, 2 letters code

gross_tonnage_min– minimum searched vessel gross tonnage

gross_tonnage_max– maximum searched vessel gross tonnage

deadweight_min– minimum searched vessel deadweight

deadweight_max– maximum searched vessel deadweight

length_min– minimum searched vessel length

length_max– maximum searched vessel length

breadth_min– minimum searched vessel breadth

breadth_max– maximum searched vessel breadth

year_built_min– minimum searched year when the vessel was built

year_built_max– maximum searched year when the vessel was built

next– pagination filter of Datalastic API. It is used as your consumption protection in errorness requests. A /vessel_find API request can show up to 500 results in one request. In order to show more than 500 results of your filtered parameters (if available), add next parameter value as in the meta of your first API response footer to retrieve the following 500 results until you exhaust all results matching your criteria.

If your response meta is

then to go to the next result page use this request as in the example:
https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_find?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}&next=00e32b7a-4067-d6b2-8d73-2bdda4fe72bb

Here is an example of some possible generic Vessel Finder API Requests:

Vessel Finder API Response Example:

Port Finder

There's two endpoints that allows you to get detailed data about a vessel specifications:

• Port finder API "Port_find": Through a single API request you can search any port with detailed data about location, timezone, country.
• Port finder "Port_list": You can extract a full list of all ports in our database with detailed data about location, timezone, country.
  You can check the reports endpoint to follow the instructions and download your own report.

Port Finder API

Find maritime ports information, location, time zone, country even when you dont know the exact port name.

Example Port Finder API Request:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/port_find?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&{PARAMETER}={PARAMETER_VALUE}

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

name– port name, for example, "Rotterdam"

fuzzy- allows you to broaden name parameter search. Fuzzy=0 means you are searching for an exact match of the name parameter. If you set up fuzzy=1 Datalastic API will search for a similar name parameter value. For example, searching for "Rotterdam" with fuzzy=1, there are 9 similar ports appearing in the results.

port_type– Port Type. Choose between: Port, Anchorage, Marina, Offshore Terminal, Shelter, Demolition Yard, Canal, Fishing Harbour.

country_iso– country of the port, 2 letters code

port_unlocode– Unlocode of the port.

lat&lon&radius - Find port in a circle area of defined longitute and latitude as a center and radius around that defined center in NM. Maximum of 60NM.

Here is an example of some possible generic Vessel Finder API Requests:

Port Finder API Response Example:

Reports

We have 4 types of reports for these endpoints:

1. Database request usage: request_usage. Retrieves all API requests usage log. See examples for more information

2. Historical data: inradius_history. Allows to specify a location and timestamp and to receive all vessels that match the specified criteria

3. Ship Specs info: vessel_list. Retrieves all vessels in the Datalastic database

4. Port finder: port_list. Retrieves all ports in Datalastic Database

Below you will find detailed instructions on each report as well as a guide on how to create a report with JSON, Curl, and Python.

1. Database request usage: request_usage

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

from- define a specific date from when you want to see the data. YYYY-MM-DD format.

to- define a specific date until when you want to see the data. YYYY-MM-DD format. 31 days maximum since from

If parameters are omitted then the report will be generated for the last month from the current timestamp.

CURL Report Submission For Request Usage:

JSON playload Example For Request Usage Report:

2. Historical location data: inradius_history

Request Parameters:

api-key - your API Key sent to you via email upon your successful registration

lat– Latitude of the central point of the zone you want to perform the search of the area

lon– Longitude of the central point of the zone you want to perform the search of the area

radius– Radius from the central point defined by lon and lat in nautical miles. 50NM maximum

from- define a specific date from when you want to see the data. YYYY-MM-DD format

to- define a specific date until when you want to see the data. YYYY-MM-DD format. 31 days maximum since from

Curl Report Submission For Historical Location Data:

JSON playload Example For Historical location Data:

3. Ship Specs info: vessel_list

You can extract a list of all the ships with detailed data such as name, IMO, MMSI, UUID, Call Sign, country, type, subtype, draft, TEU unit of cargo capacity, deadweight, liquid gas capacity, length, breadth, average draught, maximum draught, average speed, maximum speed, year built, homeport, activity status.

Requires only one parameter report_type : vessel_list

CURL Report Submission For Vessel List:

JSON Payload Example For Vessel List:

4. Port finder: port_list

You can extract a list of all the ports available in our database with detailed data such as location, time zone, country even when you dont know the exact port name.

Requires only one parameter report_type : port_list

CURL Report Submission For Port List:

JSON Playload Example For Port List:

This is an instruction on how to submit a job for preparing the report, in which you can later check the status and collect/download the data.

Reports are processed asynchronously using the single endpoint

https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/report

Note that to submit a report job you have to use POST method and JSON payload.

JSON Payload Example For Historical Location AIS Data:

A simple example showing how to submit a report and receive status and report ID through which you can poll for the status (and later the result) of your report job:

CURL Report submission Example For Historical Location AIS Data:

Python Report submission Example For Historical Location AIS Data:

Response Example:

Note the status and report_id field in the response. After submitting a report, its status is _PENDING_. Using report_id you can retrieve the status and result of the job. Invoking that endpoint provides you with the status first:

CURL Report Status check: