# Shiptrail (remote · shiptrail.io)

Free live AIS ship tracking: find any ship by name, MMSI or IMO, and see who is arriving at a port.

- Trust score: 73/100 (medium)
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `shiptrail.io`: 73/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://shiptrail.io/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.2`

## 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 2026-11-05.

- **Endpoint Security**: 80/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - No authorisation is required to call this server. Nothing on it is marked destructive, but we can't show that an anonymous caller can only read: full credit needs the server to list at least one tool and every tool to be verifiably read-only. We use a best-effort check of tool names and descriptions to tell read-only tools from tools that change things, so some genuinely read-only tools may not get full credit. Names that start with a read verb (get, list, read, search and similar) and accurate readOnlyHint annotations help. Meet that to earn full credit, or require authorisation.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present.
  - 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**: 72/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 608 tokens (~152/item across 4 items; 4 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 3/100
  - Stability observed for 1 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% 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 4 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 5 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the Shiptrail MCP server?

Shiptrail is a hosted endpoint at https://shiptrail.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-shiptrail-shiptrail 'https://shiptrail.io/mcp'
```

### Cursor

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

### VS Code

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

### Codex

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

### opencode

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

### OpenClaw

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

### Hermes

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

### Netclaw

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

### Vellum

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

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-shiptrail-shiptrail": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://shiptrail.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.

### 2026-11-05 (score 73, 0)

- [security] Tool “get_ship” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.03
- [cosmetic] “get_ship” added an optional parameter “includeNearby”

### 2026-11-04 (score 73)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (4)

### `search_ships` (~104 tokens)

Search ships

Find ships by name, MMSI (9 digits) or IMO number (7 digits): every ship with a Shiptrail page, any class, on the map now or heard in the last year. Ships on the map now come first. Use get_ship with an MMSI for the whole record.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): At most this many ships.
- `query` (string, required): A ship's name or part of it, an MMSI or an IMO number.

Output parameters:

- `note` (string): Why the list may be short.
- `query` (string)
- `ships` (array)

### `get_ship` (~122 tokens)

Get a ship

Everything Shiptrail's page shows about one ship, by MMSI: identity, size, position, speed, course and status, destination and ETA, where she came from, recent port calls, particulars and registry facts, photo and its credit, a Wikipedia summary, and, with includeNearby, the ships near her. No history over time.

Input parameters:

- `includeNearby` (boolean): Also list the ships near her. Off by default; leave it off unless the question is about her surroundings.
- `mmsi` (integer, required): Her MMSI, 9 digits.

Output parameters:

- `aisClass` (string)
- `beamM` (number)
- `callSign` (string)
- `dossier` (string): pending: her particulars and photo are still being looked up; ask again in a minute.
- `draughtM` (number)
- `flag` (string)
- `imo` (integer)
- `kind` (string): The map's class for her AIS type.
- `lastHeard` (string): Her last position report.
- `lengthM` (number)
- `mmsi` (integer)
- `name` (string)
- `nearby` (array)
- `onMap` (boolean)
- `particulars` (object): From Wikidata and the US Coast Guard, where they know her.
- `photo` (object)
- `position` (object): Where she is, as she last broadcast it. For a ship off the map, where she was last heard.
- `recentCalls` (array)
- `sharesImoWith` (array): Other MMSIs heard with her IMO number.
- `type` (string)
- `url` (string): Her page, or the port's, on shiptrail.io.
- `voyage` (object)
- `wikipedia` (object)

### `search_ports` (~84 tokens)

Search ports

Find ports by name or UN/LOCODE. Busy ports come first, with how many ships are in port, en route and lately departed. Use get_port with a UN/LOCODE for its boards.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): At most this many ports.
- `query` (string, required): A port's name or part of it, or its UN/LOCODE.

Output parameters:

- `ports` (array)
- `query` (string)

### `get_port` (~110 tokens)

Get a port

A port's Arrivals board (ships in port now, then ships en route by ETA) and Departures board (ships that left in the last 48 hours), as its Shiptrail page shows them, by UN/LOCODE. Each row carries the ship's MMSI for get_ship.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): At most this many rows on each list; the counts are always whole.
- `locode` (string, required): The port's UN/LOCODE, such as USHNL.

Output parameters:

- `arrivals` (object)
- `counts` (object)
- `departures` (array)
- `port` (object)
- `truncated` (boolean): True when a list was cut to the limit.
- `url` (string): Her page, or the port's, on shiptrail.io.

## Diagnostics

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

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 73
- 2026-11-04: 73

## Common questions

### What is the Shiptrail MCP server?

Shiptrail is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.shiptrail/shiptrail. Free live AIS ship tracking: find any ship by name, MMSI or IMO, and see who is arriving at a port. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://shiptrail.io/mcp).

### Is the Shiptrail MCP server safe to use?

Shiptrail scores 73 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 Shiptrail MCP server expose?

Shiptrail exposes 4 tools: search_ships, get_ship, search_ports, get_port. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 420 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Shiptrail MCP server require authentication?

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

### Is the Shiptrail MCP server still maintained?

Shiptrail is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 5 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

### What did VerifyMCP test on the Shiptrail MCP server?

VerifyMCP ran 13 checks on Shiptrail, covering TLS certificate, Authorization, HTTPS, HSTS header and 9 more. Supply Chain Security and Provenance & Transparency do not apply to a hosted endpoint, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://shiptrail.io/mcp
- Website: https://shiptrail.io/agents
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail/changelog.json
- Trust report (JSON): https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-shiptrail-shiptrail/shiptrail