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Services ​

OrbitSailor provides a wide range of customizable services designed to meet your specific business needs. These services can be configured to align seamlessly with your operations and integrated into your existing systems. Explore the detailed descriptions of our services below. If you require assistance or wish to set up custom workflows, our team is here to help.

Data Sources ​

The OrbitSailor team can assign specific data sources to your account, ensuring you receive data from the sources most relevant to your needs. For assistance with data source configuration, please contact the OrbitSailor team.

Service description ​

Raw AIS stream ​

The Raw AIS stream delivers unprocessed AIS data in its original NMEA format, exactly as received from vessels. This unmodified format provides access to all information as transmitted. Note that decoding the data is your responsibility and requires appropriate tools and expertise.

Key features include:

  • Vessel tracking: Monitor vessels using custom vessel lists (see page Vessel Fleet Management).
  • Area-based filtering: Streamline data by uploading GeoJSON files, manually drawing areas, or using OrbitSailor's pre-defined areas.
  • Data downsampling: Reduce data frequency by configuring custom time intervals.

Vessel position updates ​

The Vessel position updates simplifies AIS data by decoding and aggregating it into a more user-friendly format. Messages are fully decoded, allowing you to extract individual fields or receive a comprehensive JSON file containing all decoded data.

Key features include:

  • Vessel tracking: Monitor vessels using custom vessel lists (see page Vessel Fleet Management).
  • Area-based filtering: Streamline data by uploading GeoJSON files, manually drawing areas, or using OrbitSailor's pre-defined areas.
  • Data downsampling: Reduce data frequency by configuring custom time intervals.
  • Buffered and ordered streams: Enable buffering to delay data delivery by 30 minutes, ensuring all messages are timestamp-ordered and eliminating inconsistencies in vessel positions.

AIS loss of contact notifications ​

The AIS loss of contact notifications identifies situation where vessels remain untracked for extended periods despite being in areas where they should be visible. These "dark vessel" events are flagged as potentially suspicious. However, this service does not provide a proof whether the crew is deliberately hiding. Analysis is conducted in real-time to assess patterns in vessel behavior.

Transshipment at sea detections ​

The Transshipment at sea detections service is an internal tool available only through custom workflows set up by the OrbitSailor team. It detects vessel-to-vessel interactions, such as prolonged proximity or synchronized travel. Such behaviors may suggest illegal activities, such as smuggling, but could also indicate legitimate operations like bunkering or fishing.

ETA ​

The Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) service, while not directly accessible, can be enabled by the OrbitSailor team. This service integrates with the PositionUpdateService to provide ETA data in either custom message formats or as a full JSON file. For more details, refer to the PositionUpdateService description.

Destination derived by OrbitSailor ​

The AIS standard includes a Destination field, which is intended to indicate the next port a vessel is heading to. Ideally, this field should be populated with a LOCODE (a unique port code). In practice, however, the field is often misused and typically contains the name of a city or port instead of a proper LOCODE.

To assist customers relying on the Destination field, OrbitSailor provides a solution: a derived LOCODE can be added to the decoded data as part of the Vessel Position Updates service.