# Open Waters AIS (remote · ais.openwaters.io)

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

- Trust score: 76/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +10
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-10-04

## Components

- remote · `ais.openwaters.io`: 76/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `0.14.0`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-10-04.

- **Endpoint Security**: 74/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - No authorisation is required to call this server. Every tool declares its destructiveHint and none is destructive, so open access doesn't expose one.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 60/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 2051 tokens (~341/item across 6 items; 6 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 53/100
  - Stability observed for 16 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 99/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 96% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 6 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 7 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).

## Install

### How do I install the Open Waters AIS MCP server?

Open Waters AIS is a hosted endpoint at https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

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

### Cursor

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

### VS Code

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

### Codex

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

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "io-openwaters-ais": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add io-openwaters-ais --url 'https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  io-openwaters-ais:
    url: "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "io-openwaters-ais": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add io-openwaters-ais -t streamable-http -u 'https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-openwaters-ais": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-10-04 (score 76, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 50 to 53. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 15 days of observed history at the previous scan, 16 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-03 (score 75, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_vessel_track” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional] Server version: 0.9.0 → 0.11.0
- [cosmetic] “get_vessel_track” reworded the description of “from”

### 2026-10-02 (score 75, 0)

- [functional] Server version: 0.8.0 → 0.9.0

### 2026-10-01 (score 75, +1)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_vessels” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “get_coverage” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 273 → 339
- [functional] Server version: 0.7.0 → 0.8.0
- [functional] Server version: 0.6.0 → 0.7.0
- [cosmetic] “get_coverage” added an optional parameter “max_age”

### 2026-09-30 (score 74, 0)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_vessel_track” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional] Server version: 0.5.2 → 0.6.0
- [cosmetic] “get_vessel_track” reworded the description of “from”
- [cosmetic] “get_vessel_track” reworded the description of “interval_minutes”

### 2026-09-29 (score 74, +1)

- [security] Tool “get_vessel_track” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional] Server version: 0.5.1 → 0.5.2

### 2026-09-28 (score 73, +7)

- [security improvement] Authorization: unverified → partial
- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “find_vessels_near” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 1284 → 1577
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 1284 → 1573
- [functional] We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server
- [functional] Server version: 0.5.0 → 0.5.1
- [functional] Server version: 0.4.0 → 0.5.0
- [functional] New tool “get_vessel_track”

### 2026-09-26 (score 66, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 23 to 27. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 7 days of observed history at the previous scan, 8 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

## MCP tools (6)

### `find_vessels_in_area` (~221 tokens)

Vessels in an area

Vessels currently inside a latitude/longitude bounding box, newest report first, with optional kind and ship-type filters. Use for what is in a port, a strait, or a stretch of coast. Anonymous calls may cover 100 square degrees per call.

Input parameters:

- `bbox` (object, required)
- `flag` (string): only vessels flying this flag: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g. NO, FI, MH
- `kind` (string): only this kind: vessel, aton (aid to navigation), base (base station), or sar (search and rescue aircraft)
- `limit` (integer): rows to return: default 50, maximum 200
- `types` (null|array): only these ITU ship type codes, e.g. 30 fishing, 36 sailing, 37 pleasure craft, 52 tug, 60 passenger, 70 cargo, 80 tanker; a code ending in 0 matches its decade, so 70 matches 70 to 79

Output parameters:

- `attribution` (object): credit line per source kind in the rows, to show with the data
- `total` (integer): vessels matched before the limit was applied
- `truncated` (boolean): true when total exceeds the rows returned; narrow the query or raise limit
- `unknown_imo` (null|array): requested IMO numbers matching no vessel the network has heard
- `unknown_mmsi` (null|array): requested MMSIs matching no vessel the network has heard
- `vessels` (null|array)

### `find_vessels_near` (~249 tokens)

Vessels near a point or vessel

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. Use for what is near this position or what is around vessel X.

Input parameters:

- `flag` (string): only vessels flying this flag: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g. NO, FI, MH
- `kind` (string): only this kind: vessel, aton, base, or sar
- `lat` (null|number): centre latitude, degrees; give lat and lon, or mmsi
- `limit` (integer): rows to return: default 50, maximum 200
- `lon` (null|number): centre longitude, degrees
- `mmsi` (integer): centre on this vessel's last position instead of lat and lon; the vessel itself is left out of the results
- `radius_nm` (number): search radius in nautical miles: default 10, maximum 50
- `types` (null|array): only these ITU ship type codes; a code ending in 0 matches its decade

Output parameters:

- `attribution` (object): credit line per source kind in the rows, to show with the data
- `total` (integer): vessels matched before the limit was applied
- `truncated` (boolean): true when total exceeds the rows returned; narrow the query or raise limit
- `unknown_imo` (null|array): requested IMO numbers matching no vessel the network has heard
- `unknown_mmsi` (null|array): requested MMSIs matching no vessel the network has heard
- `vessels` (null|array)

### `get_coverage` (~200 tokens)

Coverage and sources

Where Open Waters AIS is hearing AIS right now: sources with their current delay, stations, freshness, and vessel counts. Pass a bounding box to learn which stations cover it and how many vessels are in it, or a station id for that station's numbers. 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. Call this before saying a region has no traffic.

Input parameters:

- `bbox` (null|object): report the stations covering this box and the vessels currently in it
- `max_age` (string): count vessels heard within this long, network-wide and in bbox, instead of the last 30 minutes: a duration such as 6h, 24h, or 7d, or all for every vessel the network has heard
- `station` (string): a station id from an earlier result, for that station's numbers

Output parameters:

- `area` (null|object)
- `events_per_second` (number)
- `note` (string)
- `sources` (null|array)
- `station` (null|object)
- `stations` (object)
- `summary` (string)
- `time` (string)
- `vessels` (object)

### `get_vessel_track` (~260 tokens)

Where a vessel has been

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. Use for where a ship was yesterday, when it left port, or its route today. 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.

Input parameters:

- `from` (string): start, RFC 3339 UTC; default 24 hours before to. A call covers up to 366 days
- `interval_minutes` (integer): at most one position per this many minutes, evenly spaced; by default the track is simplified by shape instead, keeping the positions that hold its path. Anonymous and personal calls reaching past 48…
- `limit` (integer): positions to return: default 50, maximum 200; when more match, the newest are kept
- `mmsi` (integer, required): the vessel's MMSI; use search_vessels_by_name first when you only have a name
- `to` (string): end, RFC 3339 UTC; default now

Output parameters:

- `attribution` (object): credit line per source kind in the positions, to show with the data
- `breaks` (null|array): simplified, always present and empty when the vessel was heard throughout: indexes of positions that start a stretch after it went unheard; draw no line into them
- `from` (string): start of the range covered
- `interval_s` (integer): at most one position per this many seconds; 0 is every position heard. Simplified, the resolution the positions were read at
- `mmsi` (integer)
- `name` (string)
- `positions` (null|array): oldest first
- `simplified` (boolean): true when the track was simplified by shape: the positions that hold its path, not evenly spaced
- `to` (string)
- `tolerance_m` (null|number): simplified: every position left out lay within this many meters of the line through the ones kept
- `truncated` (boolean): true when positions were left out: simplified, the tolerance rose past 15 m to fit the limit, or the range held more than 50,000 positions and the oldest were not read; by interval, the newest were k…

### `get_vessels` (~230 tokens)

Vessels by MMSI

Last known position and particulars of specific vessels by MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) or IMO number: 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. Use search_vessels_by_name first when you only have a name.

Input parameters:

- `imo` (null|array): IMO numbers to look up, counted with mmsi against the same cap; a vessel is found by IMO only once its static data has been heard
- `mmsi` (null|array): MMSIs to look up; anonymous calls may pass 10 identifiers per call, a personal token 50

Output parameters:

- `attribution` (object): credit line per source kind in the rows, to show with the data
- `total` (integer): vessels matched before the limit was applied
- `truncated` (boolean): true when total exceeds the rows returned; narrow the query or raise limit
- `unknown_imo` (null|array): requested IMO numbers matching no vessel the network has heard
- `unknown_mmsi` (null|array): requested MMSIs matching no vessel the network has heard
- `vessels` (null|array)

### `search_vessels_by_name` (~165 tokens)

Search vessels by name

Vessels whose name contains the text, case-insensitive, among every vessel the network has heard, each with its last known position. Use to turn a name into an MMSI, then get_vessels or find_vessels_near for detail. An optional bounding box narrows the search.

Input parameters:

- `bbox` (null|object): only vessels whose last position is inside this box
- `flag` (string): only vessels flying this flag: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g. NO, FI, MH
- `limit` (integer): rows to return: default 50, maximum 200
- `name` (string, required): text to find in the vessel name, at least 2 characters, case-insensitive

Output parameters:

- `attribution` (object): credit line per source kind in the rows, to show with the data
- `total` (integer): vessels matched before the limit was applied
- `truncated` (boolean): true when total exceeds the rows returned; narrow the query or raise limit
- `unknown_imo` (null|array): requested IMO numbers matching no vessel the network has heard
- `unknown_mmsi` (null|array): requested MMSIs matching no vessel the network has heard
- `vessels` (null|array)

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-10-04: 76
- 2026-10-03: 75
- 2026-10-02: 75
- 2026-10-01: 75
- 2026-09-30: 74
- 2026-09-29: 74
- 2026-09-28: 73
- 2026-09-27: 66
- 2026-09-26: 66
- 2026-09-25: 65
- 2026-09-24: 65
- 2026-09-23: 64
- 2026-09-22: 64
- 2026-09-21: 64
- 2026-09-20: 64
- 2026-09-19: 63
- 2026-09-18: 63

## Common questions

### What is the Open Waters AIS MCP server?

Open Waters AIS is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.openwaters/ais. Live AIS vessel positions by MMSI, name, area, or radius, plus coverage. No sign-in, no key. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp).

### Is the Open Waters AIS MCP server safe to use?

Open Waters AIS scores 76 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the Open Waters AIS MCP server expose?

Open Waters AIS exposes 6 tools: find_vessels_in_area, find_vessels_near, get_coverage, get_vessel_track, get_vessels, search_vessels_by_name. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,325 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Open Waters AIS MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to Open Waters AIS without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the Open Waters AIS MCP server still maintained?

Open Waters AIS is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 4 October 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/openwatersio/aiscast
- Website: https://openwaters.io/ais/
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-openwaters-ais/ais