Open Waters AIS MCP Server

by openwaters Your server? Claim it

answering

Open Waters AIS is answering right now. Last checked 2 min ago. It exposes 6 tools. Last commit 6 Nov 2026.

Live AIS vessel positions by MMSI, name, area, or radius, plus coverage. No sign-in, no key.

Uptime history 51 days of history · worst day 99%

51 days agonow

100.0%

Uptime 24h

92 of 92 checks

Tools

read from the server

46 ms

Response time

average over 24h

Stars

last commit 6 Nov 2026

What changed 58

Every tool that appeared, vanished or quietly changed what it asks for. Recorded since 21 September 2026. No other catalogue keeps this.

6 Nov 6 tool descriptions were rewritten find_vessels_in_area, find_vessels_near, get_coverage and 3 more

6 Nov 3 tools changed the parameters they ask for find_vessels_near, get_coverage, get_vessel_track

6 Nov a tool changed version

23 Oct a tool changed version

10 Oct a tool changed version

9 Oct 2 tools changed the parameters they ask for find_vessels_in_area, find_vessels_near

9 Oct a tool changed version

8 Oct 3 tool descriptions were rewritten get_vessels, get_vessel_track, search_vessels_by_name

8 Oct 3 tools changed the parameters they ask for get_vessels, get_vessel_track, search_vessels_by_name

8 Oct a tool changed version2 times that day

and 36 more, back to 21 September 2026

What the code does

We read the source, 59 min ago · tools taken from the live server · rules 995398eba69f

Capabilities

What this server is able to do. For an MCP server this is often the job itself — a terminal server runs commands because that is what it is for. Listed so you know what you are plugging in, not as an accusation.

Builds a file path from a variable server/replay_clickhouse.go:66, server/tc.go:208

            dir = filepath.Join(archiveDir, "replay-"+day.Format("2006-01-02"))

Is this your server and something here is wrong? Tell us — corrections are free and do not require a plan.

This code can reach further than it looks

We found places where it runs commands, builds paths or queries from values it is given. None of that is a flaw by itself — it becomes one when the code changes, and code changes quietly between releases. We re-read it on every one.

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 2 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add ais --transport http https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste this address

https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.ais]
url = "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ais": {
      "url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "ais": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 6

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

vessels

find_vessels_in_area

Vessels currently inside a latitude/longitude bounding box, newest report first, with optional kind and ship-type filters. Anonymous calls may cover 100 square degrees per call.

find_vessels_near

Vessels within a radius (default 10 NM, maximum 50) of a point or of another vessel's last known position, nearest first, each with distance and bearing from the centre.

get_vessels

Last known position and particulars of specific vessels by MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity), or by IMO number with a feeder or partner token: the last report heard for each, however long ago, with destination, ETA, draught, and dimensions once its static data has been heard, and which identifiers match no vessel the network has heard. A vessel whose IMO number has a Wikidata item also carries its type, builder, year built, tonnage, registered dimensions, registry, home port, owner, operator, former names, and Wikipedia and Commons links from there, and a documented US vessel its service type, status, official number, registered dimensions, and tonnage from the US Coast Guard.

search_vessels_by_name

Vessels whose name contains the text, case-insensitive, among every vessel the network has heard, each with its MMSI and last known position when available. An optional bounding box narrows the search. With a feeder or partner token, text of the form IMO 9241061 finds the vessels reporting that IMO number, and a bare seven-digit number finds them ahead of the name matches.

coverage

get_coverage

Where Open Waters AIS is hearing AIS right now: sources with their current delay, stations, freshness, and vessel counts. A bounding box adds the stations whose coverage overlaps that area and a count of vessels in it. A station ID adds statistics for that station. Vessel counts cover the last 30 minutes; max_age widens them, to 7d for the last week or all for every vessel the network has heard. An area without reports may have gaps in coverage.

vessel

get_vessel_track

The positions heard from one vessel over a time range, oldest first, with speed, course, and navigational status. Positions implying an impossible speed for the vessel are left out. A vessel can be identified by MMSI, or by IMO with a feeder or partner token. A call covers up to a year. By default the track is simplified by shape: the positions that hold its path, with breaks where the vessel went unheard; interval_minutes asks for even spacing instead.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp	streamable-http	answering	8 ms	2 min ago

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Open Waters AIS — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can Open Waters AIS do?

It exposes 6 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: find_vessels_in_area, find_vessels_near, get_coverage, get_vessels, get_vessel_track, search_vessels_by_name. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →

Is Open Waters AIS working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 92 of 92 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 46 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect Open Waters AIS?

Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.

Does Open Waters AIS need an API key?

No. Open Waters AIS completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 6 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.

How fast is Open Waters AIS?

It answers our handshake in 46 ms on average, which is faster than 99% of all working MCP servers we measure. That puts it in the quick quarter of the ecosystem. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.

Is Open Waters AIS open source?

The code is open source: it is published under the MIT licence, written in Go, 9 stars on GitHub and 22 open issues. The licence covers the code in the repository, not the hosted service at ais.openwaters.io, which runs on its operator's own terms.