# Oceanook

> Oceanook is a free maritime vessel tracking and analytics platform providing real-time AIS (Automatic Identification System) data — vessel positions, port call history, route analysis, and shipping intelligence worldwide.

Oceanook tracks vessels globally using AIS data broadcast by ships. Data includes live positions, speed, heading, destination, voyage details, and historical port calls.

## API

Oceanook provides a free JSON API. No authentication required. Rate limit: 5 requests/minute.

### Get vessel by MMSI
GET https://oceanook.com/api/v1/vessel/:mmsi

Returns current position, navigation data, voyage details, and vessel identity for a given MMSI number.

Example: https://oceanook.com/api/v1/vessel/244690659

Response fields:
- mmsi, imo, name, flag, type
- position: lat, lon, updated (ISO 8601)
- navigation: speed (knots), course, heading, status
- voyage: destination, eta, draught (metres)
- dimensions: length, beam (metres)
- firstSeen, lastUpdate (ISO 8601)
- url: canonical page on Oceanook

## Key pages

- [Vessel search](https://oceanook.com/search) — search by vessel name, MMSI, or IMO number
- [Port calls](https://oceanook.com/portcalls) — recent vessel arrivals and departures worldwide
- [Vessels](https://oceanook.com/vessels) — browse all tracked vessels
- [Ports](https://oceanook.com/ports) — maritime ports worldwide with UN/LOCODE and location
- [Safety messages](https://oceanook.com/safetymessages) — AIS safety-related text messages
- [Weather reports](https://oceanook.com/weatherreports) — meteorological reports from vessels at sea

## Common questions answered

Each vessel and port page carries machine-readable Q&A (schema.org FAQPage JSON-LD) whose answers match the visible page content. Typical questions answered per entity:

Vessel pages (e.g. https://oceanook.com/vessel/mmsi/244690659/name/...):
- Where is {vessel} right now? (latest position, status, and destination; "What happened to {vessel}?" for wrecks)
- What type of ship is {vessel}? (ship type and flag state)
- What are the MMSI and IMO numbers of {vessel}?

Port pages (e.g. https://oceanook.com/port/locode/NLRTM/name/...):
- Where is the port of {port} located? (country and coordinates)
- What is the UN/LOCODE of the port of {port}?

Answers are localized to the page language and reflect the most recent AIS data at render time. For programmatic access to the same facts, prefer the JSON API above.

## Data notes

- Position data is derived from AIS transponders and may be delayed or absent for vessels outside coverage areas.
- Port calls are algorithmically detected from AIS movement patterns; they may not reflect official port authority records.
- MMSI is the primary vessel identifier. IMO numbers are more stable across name/flag changes.
- All timestamps are UTC.