Track Ship in Your Port with Datalastic API

Tracking ships individually one by one via an API is an awesome feature. But what if you want to track a certain area like a busy port or a whole water body, like a sea or a canal? Datalastic track maritime port activity API makes this possible – and fast!
What the API does essentially is to return all vessels and ships coming in and going out of a circled area that you specify in the endpoint.
You select a static point on the map or set a ship as the center point, and track the circled area around this point. You can quickly check which port is around your desired area and select a port as the center point. You select the size of the area by adding the radius. The response then returns all ships that are moving in and out of that area, allowing you to track the maritime traffic ship by ship at once.
So, you are not only receiving traffic data for one ship but ALL within the area. The response includes not only updated geo data but also many other passive details of the vessels, making the API a perfect all-in-one tool to fully track maritime traffic with ship information. We will get in more detail of the data you can find in a response below, so keep reading!
One of the major advantages of the API is that it can focus on ports. Ports are the obvious locations where vessel traffic is the busiest. Ships in ports tracking API lets you monitor all inbound and outbound vessels in the ports of your choice. Monitor complete and real-time vessel activity and maritime traffic of ports around the world with our track maritime port activity API!
Set the radius you want covered yourself! Adjust the radius based on how much field you’d like to cover.
Track Maritime Port Activity API Developer Information
You may choose either a spot on the map based on latitude/longitude, or choose a vessel based on its MMSI number and set this as the origin point. The radius value is in the nautical mile and can be 50 at maximum.
Important Tip: You can combine multiple locations to expand the area you are tracking, allowing you to track vast bodies of water at once, for example, the whole of the Black Sea. This may be necessary if you are looking to cover a wider area than a 50 NM radius at a time which is the limit per response.
Endpoint example for tracking based on a certain spot:
https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_inradius?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&lat=29.15915&lon=-89.25454&radius=3
Endpoint example for tracking based on a vessel by MMSI number:
https://api.datalastic.com/api/v0/vessel_inradius?api-key={YOUR_API_KEY}&mmsi=566093000&radius=5
(The Maritime Mobile Service Identity number is unique for each vessel, allowing setting the exact vessel you want as the origin point. It typically consists of 9 digits)
Example API response:
We will get more in detail of the parameters in a standard response below. Before we do, here’s how the data of ships in ports tracking API looks like so you can visualize better:
{
“data”: {
“point”: {
“lat”: 29.15915,
“lon”: -89.25454,
“radius”: 0.25
},
“total”: 2,
“vessels”: [
{
“uuid”: “f70aef75-3d20-bbcd-89f8-1cf9be0e3eee”,
“name”: “CANDACE”,
“mmsi”: “366955460”,
“imo”: “9343027”,
“eni”: null,
“country_iso”: “US”,
“type”: “Tug”,
“type_specific”: “Towing Vessel”,
“lat”: 29.15608,
“lon”: -89.25658,
“speed”: 3.4,
“course”: 13,
“heading”: 14,
“destination”: “XX XXX\u003eUS^0ZTT”,
“last_position_epoch”: 1605634800,
“last_position_UTC”: “2020-11-17T17:40:00Z”,
“distance”: 0.213113085875055
},
{
“uuid”: “3ec47f01-5f82-d51b-38c7-61d660c6a309”,
“name”: “E W ELLEFSEN”,
“mmsi”: “367323150”,
“imo”: null,
“eni”: null,
“country_iso”: “US”,
“type”: “Dredger”,
“type_specific”: “Dredger”,
“lat”: 29.1557,
“lon”: -89.25619,
“speed”: 0.9,
“course”: 279,
“heading”: 188,
“destination”: “HOUSTON”,
“last_position_epoch”: 1605632220,
“last_position_UTC”: “2020-11-17T16:57:00Z”,
“distance”: 0.224482533896964
}
]
},
“meta”: {
“duration”: 0.022402006,
“endpoint”: “/api/v0/vessel_inradius”,
“success”: true
}
}
API Parameters in the Response:
- radius – Radius in NM. Max 50 NM
- lat, lon – Geo-coordinates of center
- uuid – The search will be performed in a radius around the Vessel with this UUID.
- mmsi – The search will be performed in a radius around the Vessel with this MMSI.
- imo – The search will be performed in a radius around the Vessel with this IMO.
- port_uuid – The search will be performed in a radius around the Port with this UUID.
- port_unlocode – The search will be performed in a radius around the Port with this UNLOCODE.
As you can see, the response returns all ships in the area at once and includes the details of each ship one by one starting from the “UUID”, ending at the “distance” value. The API returns data in real-time, so changing details such as the latitude, longitude, speed, course, last position, etc. requires making a new API call to update. The data updates frequently, allowing you to have the latest data at all times each time you refresh it.
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