Real-time and historical positions for 190,000 vessels from terrestrial and satellite AIS, with cleaned port calls, berth events and voyage segments for the merchant fleet.
Data product · Listing updated 11 Nov 2026
Worldwide, no country restrictions stated.
Under 1 minute for terrestrial AIS; 5–30 minutes typical for satellite
About 420 million position messages a day
Small and medium businesses, Mid-market, Enterprises, Public sector
Terrestrial AIS receivers and licensed satellite AIS
Streaming ingestion, de-duplication, spoofing and gap detection; port calls derived from berth and anchorage geofences
The core Capstan feed: where every merchant vessel is, where it has been and which ports it called at, cleaned and ready for analysis.
Coverage combines a terrestrial network near coasts and ports with licensed satellite AIS for open ocean. Terrestrial positions arrive in under a minute; satellite revisit times are typically 5 to 30 minutes and can be longer in congested areas where messages collide. Messages are de-duplicated and checked for impossible jumps, spoofed positions and identity mismatches. Port calls are derived from berth and anchorage geofences rather than reported destinations. AIS is a public safety broadcast describing vessels; the data contain no information about crew or passengers. History back to 2015 is stored at one position per vessel every five minutes.
14 fields as documented by Capstan Maritime Data.
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| mmsi | string | Maritime Mobile Service Identity | — |
| imo | string | IMO ship identification number | — |
| vessel_name | string | Vessel name as broadcast and registered | — |
| vessel_type | string | Capstan vessel type, e.g. container, tanker, bulk_carrier | — |
| dwt | integer | Deadweight tonnage | — |
| timestamp_utc | datetime | Position time, UTC | — |
| latitude | number | WGS 84 latitude | — |
| longitude | number | WGS 84 longitude | — |
| speed_knots | number | Speed over ground | — |
| course_deg | number | Course over ground, degrees | — |
| nav_status | string | AIS navigational status | — |
| draught_m | number | Reported draught, metres | — |
| reported_destination | string | Destination as entered by the crew | — |
| source | string | terrestrial or satellite | — |
Real rows from the provider's sample file. Personal data is masked before anything is shown.
| mmsistring | imostring | vessel_namestring | vessel_typestring | timestamp_utcstring | latitudestring | longitudestring | speed_knotsstring | nav_statusstring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 563000101 | 9000013 | DEMO SPIRIT | container | 2026-11-10T03:14:00Z | 1.2650 | 103.8200 | 0.1 | moored |
| 636000202 | 9000025 | EXAMPLE TRADER | bulk_carrier | 2026-11-10T03:14:30Z | -33.9050 | 18.4300 | 11.8 | under_way_using_engine |
| 477000303 | 9000037 | SAMPLE STAR | tanker | 2026-11-10T03:15:02Z | 25.0100 | 55.0600 | 0.0 | at_anchor |
Prices in USD, as published by Capstan Maritime Data
live API, up to 5,000 tracked vessels
historical port calls extract, one region
global live feed plus history since 2015
Converted amounts use DataStoa display rates and are approximate. Capstan Maritime Data quotes the final price, taxes and terms.
Request detailed pricingWorldwide coverage.
Time coverage: 2015 to present.
Provider-reported
Latency: Under 1 minute for terrestrial AIS; 5–30 minutes typical for satellite
DataStoa has not audited these figures. Ask the provider how they are measured, or test them on a sample.
The licence is agreed directly between you and Capstan Maritime Data. This summary is provider-reported; the linked terms prevail.
Not listed: AI / ML model training, AI retrieval and grounding, redistribution allowed, marketing and outreach, research use. Ask Capstan Maritime Data if you need any of these.
AIS vessel tracking, port calls, freight rates and disruption alerts
Capstan Maritime Data fuses terrestrial and satellite AIS into clean vessel positions, port calls and voyages for the global merchant fleet. From Singapore it also publishes a weekly container freight rate index and round-the-clock alerts on port congestion and shipping disruptions.
Also available on: Snowflake Marketplace, AWS Data Exchange, Databricks Marketplace
What buyers say about Capstan Maritime Data. Reviews cover the provider, not only this listing.
from 3 reviews
The weekly index is transparent about its inputs and we now reference it in two contracts. We would like more coverage on intra-Africa and South America east coast lanes, which they say are planned.
Henrik O., Procurement lead, ocean freight, Retail group
During a congestion spell at a transhipment hub we had the alert and waiting-time data two days before our forwarder told us. That was enough to rebook two shipments through another port.
Sarah J., Logistics manager, Furniture importer
We pulled five years of port calls for bulk carriers in Asia and the berth and anchorage times were consistent with the port authority figures we checked. The API is quick and the vessel classification by size saved us a lot of joins.
Wei L., Freight analyst, Commodity trading company