Sea Route API: Calculate Distance from Port to Offshore Rig

An offshore oil rig in the open sea connected by a dotted line to a distant port on the coastline, showing a calculated sea route.

Not every ship heads from one port to another.

A lot of vessels go offshore to oil rigs, wind farms, and research stations. And if you’ve ever tried to calculate the route to one of those spots using a regular mapping tool, you know it’s not that simple. Straight lines across water look fine on paper, but in reality? They might cut across land or completely ignore how ships actually move.

That’s where the Sea Route API makes a difference.

It lets you figure out how to get from a port to any set of coordinates, not just another port. That’s useful if you’re managing supply trips to rigs or planning a research expedition out in the open sea.

Why Use a Sea Route API Instead of a Simple Map?

On paper, a straight line might seem like the fastest route across the sea, but ships don’t sail that way. Our Sea Route API gives you realistic routes that follow actual shipping lanes and steer clear of land, shallow waters, and restricted zones.

You can use it for:

* Routing from port to port

* Routing from a port to any set of coordinates

* Routing between any two coordinates

That means you’re not limited to port destinations. You can also plot routes to offshore points like oil rigs, buoys, or survey areas.

Example: Calculate a Route from Stavanger to an Oil Rig in the North Sea

Let’s say your ship is docked at Stavanger, Norway (UNLOCODE: NOSTV), and you need to reach an oil platform located at:

Latitude: 59.0000
Longitude: 2.2500

You can make this Sea Route API call like this:

https://api.datalastic.com/api/ext/route?api-key=YOUR_API_KEY&port_unlocode_from=NOSTV&lat_to=59.0000&lon_to=2.2500

This API call will return:

A full sea route (LineString with coordinates)
The total sailing distance in kilometers
Start and end points (port and coordinates)
Response metadata, like processing time

It’s ideal for use in dashboards, backend systems, or even map visualizations using tools like Leaflet or Mapbox.

Sea Routes API Response Example:

{
 "data": {
 "from": {
 "type": "Feature",
 "geometry": {
 "type": "Point",
 "coordinates": [24.9445, 60.1685]
 },
 "properties": {
 "type": "Port",
 "port_name": "HELSINKI",
 "port_uuid": "7d9ba108-52b4-47d7-a74d-13d4e1a80a51",
 "port_unlocode": "FIHEL"
 }
 },
 "route": {
 "type": "Feature",
 "geometry": {
 "type": "LineString",
 "coordinates": [[24.9445, 60.1685], … , [-119, 33.7]]
 },
 "properties": {
 "total_dist": 16357.2518
 }
 },
 "to": {
 "type": "Feature",
 "geometry": {
 "type": "Point",
 "coordinates": [-119, 33.7]
 },
 "properties": {
 "type": "Coordinate Point"
 }
 }
 },
 "meta": {"duration": 0.070373595, "endpoint": "/api/ext/route","success": true}
}

Use Cases: When to Use Port-to-Coordinate Routing

This comes in handy when you’re tracking vessels headed to spots that aren’t official ports like rigs, buoys, or survey areas. It’s especially useful in remote zones where AIS coverage is patchy. Pair it with other data like Datalastic’s SAT-E which estimates vessel positions when AIS signals are missing, you can still follow the vessel’s likely route and get a reliable ETA.

Works with AIS and Satellite-Estimated Data

If you’re already using AIS tracking or satellite-estimated tools like SAT-E, you can layer in the sea route data to:

See the likely route a vessel is taking
Estimate how much distance is left
Reconstruct the full trip, even when AIS cuts out

This gives you a complete picture of vessel movement from port to offshore targets.

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