@pipeworx/vessel-tracking
Connect: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/vessel-tracking/mcp · Install: one-click buttons
Tools: 3
Live worldwide ship positions from AIS radio broadcasts. Platform key (aisstream.io), BYO accepted.
Tools
live_ships_in_area(...)— vessels broadcasting right now in a bounding box or around a point, with position, speed, course, navigational status, type, destination and IMO, plus a breakdown by vessel type.live_ship_position(...)— live position for specific vessels by MMSI.ais_coverage_check(...)— whether any receiver actually covers a location, so a zero can be read correctly.
Auth
Platform key (PLATFORM_AISSTREAM_KEY), or BYO via _apiKey. Free, instant signup at https://aisstream.io.
Coverage — read this before trusting a zero
aisstream is a community network of terrestrial receivers, so coverage follows where volunteers run hardware. Verified 2026-07-27 with a 60-second subscription:
| Region | Vessels heard |
|---|---|
| Mediterranean | 221 |
| English Channel | 50 (30s) |
| Strait of Malacca | 24 (30s) |
| Persian Gulf / Strait of Hormuz | 0 |
| Gulf of Oman | 0 |
| Red Sea / Bab el-Mandeb | 0 |
There is no coverage of the Gulf or Red Sea. Satellite AIS — the paid product from Spire/ORBCOMM — is what covers open ocean and unreceivered coasts, and this is not that. Asking about Hormuz returns coverage: "none" with a redirect to chokepoint_status, never a bare 0.
The count field is named vessels_observed, not vessel_count, because it measures what was heard in a listening window rather than what is present. Every zero carries a coverage verdict of confirmed, none or unconfirmed.
Sampling caveat
AIS transmit intervals depend on motion: a vessel underway broadcasts every 2-10 seconds, one at anchor roughly every 3 minutes. Short windows therefore under-count stationary ships. live_ship_position is best effort by nature — a 35s window found 1 of 8 vessels confirmed transmitting moments earlier — so widen window_seconds (max 40; beyond that callers time out) or use vesselfinder_vessel for a stored last-known position.
Data sources
- Stream:
wss://stream.aisstream.io/v0/stream
Tools
- live_ships_in_area — Live ship positions right now in a geographic area, from AIS radio broadcasts — what vessels are
- live_ship_position — Where is a specific ship right now — live AIS position for one or more vessels by MMSI number.
- ais_coverage_check — Does live AIS tracking actually work at this location? Listens at a point and reports whether any
Tools
-
ais_coverage_check— Does live AIS tracking actually work at this location? Listens at a point and reports whether any -
live_ship_position— Where is a specific ship right now — live AIS position for one or more vessels by MMSI number. -
live_ships_in_area— Live ship positions right now in a geographic area, from AIS radio broadcasts — what vessels are