Read-only Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for vessel AIS / ship tracking data — connects Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, and Codex plugin workflows
Connect Vessel to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. Read-only Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for vessel AIS / ship tracking data — connects Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, and Codex plugin workflows to MarineTraffic, VesselFinder, AISStream, AISHub, and other authorized maritime data. The vessel mcp server is what makes that connection.
Vessel Traffic MCP is a read-only Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for vessel identity lookup, AIS-style positions, tracks, port calls, carrier schedules, vessel schedules, and delay heuristics. It gives Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, MCP Inspector, and other MCP clients one normalized maritime-data tool surface.
npm on npm is all you need. Most clients run it directly, so configuration is a few lines and a restart.
The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:
carrier_schedule_search — vessel_scheduleprovider_status — data_sourcescredential_profiles — provider_onboardingConfiguration is passed through the environment: VESSEL_MCP_TRANSPORT, VESSEL_MCP_ENABLE_PUBLIC_PROVIDERS, VESSEL_MCP_HTTP_HOST, VESSEL_MCP_HTTP_PORT, VESSEL_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN, VESSEL_MCP_PROFILE_MARINETRAFFIC__API_KEY, VESSEL_MCP_ENABLE_BYOK_PROVIDERS. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.
Among the developer tooling options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Vessel's toolset — carrier_schedule_search, provider_status, credential_profiles — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by seokmogu; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| carrier_schedule_search | vessel_schedule |
| provider_status | data_sources |
| credential_profiles | provider_onboarding |
{
"mcpServers": {
"vessel-traffic-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@tools-mcp/vessel-traffic-mcp"],
"env": {
"VESSEL_MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
"VESSEL_MCP_ENABLE_PUBLIC_PROVIDERS": "myshiptracking,tradlinx"
}
}
}
}Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.
| Variable | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| VESSEL_MCP_TRANSPORT | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| VESSEL_MCP_ENABLE_PUBLIC_PROVIDERS | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| VESSEL_MCP_HTTP_HOST | Endpoint or connection string the server talks to. | Optional |
| VESSEL_MCP_HTTP_PORT | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
| VESSEL_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN | Credential the server authenticates with. | Yes |
| VESSEL_MCP_PROFILE_MARINETRAFFIC__API_KEY | Credential the server authenticates with. | Yes |
| VESSEL_MCP_ENABLE_BYOK_PROVIDERS | Configuration value read at startup. | Optional |
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