Vesselapi Mcp Server

VesselAPI MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes maritime data from the VesselAPI to AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Code.

Prerequisites

1. Sign up at dashboard.vesselapi.com
2. Create an API token in your dashboard
3. Use the token as VESSELAPI_API_KEY in the configuration below

Resources: Documentation | API Explorer | Dashboard | Contact Support

Features

• 19 tools covering vessels, ports, location search, and emissions
• Vessel search, positions (single and batch), ETA, emissions, and casualties
• Port search, details, port events (arrivals/departures), and port event search across all covered ports
• Geographic vessel search (bounding box and radius)
• Manual pagination to control API quota usage

Quick Start

No installation required. Configure your AI client with npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vesselapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "vesselapi-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VESSELAPI_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Add the JSON above to the config file for your client:

Client	Config file
Claude Desktop	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows)
Cursor	.cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json
Claude Code	claude mcp add, which writes .mcp.json in the project or ~/.claude.json for user scope
Windsurf	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Tools

Vessel Tools

Tool	Description
search_vessels	Search vessels by name, IMO, MMSI, flag, type, callsign, or year built
get_vessel	Get detailed vessel information
get_vessel_position	Get the latest stored vessel position (lat/lon, speed, heading, timestamp); it may be hours or days old
get_vessel_eta	Get the ETA the vessel last reported (declared, not predicted)
get_vessel_emissions	Get EU MRV emissions reports (CO2, fuel consumption)
get_vessel_casualties	Get marine casualty records
get_vessel_positions_batch	Get positions for multiple vessels at once (with optional time range)

Port Tools

Tool	Description
search_ports	Search ports by name, country, type, size, region, harbor size, or harbor use
get_port	Get port details by UN/LOCODE
get_port_inbound	Get vessels reporting a port as their destination, within an ETA window
get_port_events	Get arrivals/departures for a port (last 2 hours unless timeFrom is given)
get_port_events_by_vessel	Get port events for a vessel (last 2 hours unless timeFrom is given)
list_port_events	List port events across all covered ports, with filters for time, country, port, vessel, or event type
search_port_events_by_port	Search port events by port name
search_port_events_by_vessel	Search port events by vessel name
get_vessel_last_port_event	Get the most recent port event for a vessel

Emissions Tools

Tool	Description
list_emissions	List EU MRV emissions reports, with an optional reporting-year filter

Location Tools

Tool	Description
get_vessels_in_area	Find vessels with an AIS position in a bounding box (default last 2 hours, at most 4 hours)
get_vessels_in_radius	Find vessels with an AIS position within a radius of a point (default last 2 hours, at most 4 hours)

Pagination

All list endpoints support limit and nextToken parameters for manual pagination. When more results exist, the response includes a nextToken. Pass it in the next call to get the next page.

Development

git clone https://github.com/vessel-api/vesselapi-mcp.git
cd vesselapi-mcp
npm install
npm run build

npm run build        # Build the server
npm run typecheck    # Type-check without emitting
npm run clean        # Remove build artifacts

Testing with MCP Inspector

VESSELAPI_API_KEY=your-key npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

Data Sources & Attribution

Emissions and casualty data: © European Union. Source: European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA): THETIS-MRV (EU MRV, Regulation (EU) 2015/757) and the European Marine Casualty Information Platform (EMCIP). Reused under the European Commission reuse notice (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU), which authorises reuse for commercial and non-commercial purposes with acknowledgement of the source. Data may be transformed and combined; EMSA does not endorse this service.

License

MIT