Overview#
Analysts tracking a vessel's route need to see the ports it passed near, match them against known smuggling hubs, and look up the official UN/LOCODE for any port of call when building an intelligence report. The Ports domain provides that geographic reference layer: port locations queryable by bounding box, optimised major port listings for overview maps, and standard code lookups for formal vessel tracking and report filing.
Key Features#
- Geographic bounding box queries for retrieving ports within specified areas
- Major port listings optimised for overview map displays at low zoom levels
- UN/LOCODE standard code lookup for international port identification
- Port type classification: major, regional, local, container, bulk, tanker, cruise, and ferry terminals
- Multi-tenant data access with organisation-scoped queries
- Performance limits to manage query result sizes
Use Cases#
Relevant sectors include law enforcement, financial crime (sanctions enforcement), and defence.
- Displaying ports on maritime tracking maps with zoom-appropriate detail levels
- Looking up port information by UN/LOCODE for vessel tracking analysis
- Identifying ports within geographic areas for route analysis and risk assessment
- Supporting port call analysis in maritime investigation playbooks
Integration#
The Ports domain connects with maritime vessel tracking, geographic services, geofencing alerts, and vessel pattern analysis playbooks.
Open Standards#
- UN/LOCODE (United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations): Every port record carries its UN/LOCODE identifier (e.g., USNYC, CNSHA), enabling interoperable port-of-call referencing in vessel tracking, sanctions screening, and intelligence reports.
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: Port country fields use the three-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code, ensuring consistent nationality attribution across all maritime queries and filter interfaces.
- ITU-R M.585 (Maritime Mobile Service Identity): Each port record may carry an MMSI field conforming to the ITU-R M.585 nine-digit numbering scheme, allowing cross-reference with AIS vessel traffic reporting the same port.
- OGC Simple Features / PostGIS (ISO 19125): Bounding-box spatial queries use PostGIS GIST geometry indexing (ST_MakePoint on WGS 84 coordinates), implementing the OGC Simple Features geometry model for geographic area retrieval.
- WGS 84 (EPSG:4326): All port latitude and longitude values are stored and queried in the World Geodetic System 1984 reference frame, the standard datum used by GPS and interoperable with chart and GIS systems.
- GraphQL (June 2018 specification): The entire query and mutation surface for ports is exposed via a GraphQL API (Strawberry schema), enabling typed, self-describing queries for bounding-box lookups, UN/LOCODE resolution, and catalogue search.
- OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect: Access to port data is gated by the platform's IsAuthenticated permission layer, which validates bearer tokens issued through the OAuth 2.0 / OIDC authorisation flow before any query reaches the domain.
Last Reviewed: 2026-02-05 Last Updated: 2026-04-14