# /vesselfinder/vessels/search

`POST /api/vesselfinder/vessels/search`

Price: 5 credits

Search VesselFinder vessels by name and filters (flag, ship type, size, tonnage, year)

## How to use it

Search the VesselFinder fleet by vessel name, MMSI or IMO, and narrow with filters: flag (country of registration), ship type/class, length range, gross tonnage range, deadweight range, and year-of-build range. Set in_service to restrict to vessels currently in service. Each result carries the vessel identifier, name, ship type, flag, year built, gross tonnage, deadweight and dimensions. Use count to cap how many vessels are returned.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `count` (integer, required) — Maximum number of vessels to return (min: 1)
- `name` (string, nullable) — Vessel name, MMSI or IMO to search for
- `flag` (string, nullable) — Filter by flag (country of registration) (one of: "Adelie Land", "Afghanistan", "Aland Islands", "Alaska", "Albania", "Algeria", "American Samoa", "Andorra", "Angola", "Anguilla", "Antarctica", "Antigua & Barbuda", "Argentina", "Armenia", "Aruba", "Ascension Island", "Australia", "Austria", "Azerbaijan", "Azores", "Bahamas", "Bahrain", "Bangladesh", "Barbados", "Belarus", "Belgium", "Belize", "Benin", "Bermuda", "Bhutan", "Bolivia", "Bonaire,St Eustatius & Saba", "Bosnia & Herzegovina", "Botswana", "Brazil", "British Indian Ocean Ter.", "British Virgin Islands", "Brunei", "Bulgaria", "Burkina Faso", "Burundi", "Cambodia", "Cameroon", "Canada", "Cape Verde", "Cayman Islands", "Central Africa Rep (CAR)", "Chad", "Chile", "China", "Christmas Island", "Cocos Islands", "Colombia", "Comoros", "Congo", "Cook Islands", "Costa Rica", "Cote d'Ivoire", "Croatia", "Crozet Archipelago", "Cuba", "Curacao", "Cyprus", "Czech Rep", "DPR Korea", "DR Congo", "Denmark", "Djibouti", "Dominica", "Dominican Rep", "East Timor", "Ecuador", "Egypt", "El Salvador", "Equatorial Guinea", "Eritrea", "Estonia", "Ethiopia", "Faeroe Islands", "Falkland Islands", "Fiji", "Finland", "France", "French Polynesia", "Gabon", "Gambia", "Georgia", "Germany", "Ghana", "Gibraltar", "Greece", "Greenland", "Grenada", "Guadeloupe", "Guam", "Guatemala", "Guernsey", "Guiana", "Guinea", "Guinea-Bissau", "Guyana", "Haiti", "Heard Isl & McDonald Isls", "Honduras", "Hong Kong", "Hungary", "Iceland", "India", "Indonesia", "Iran", "Iraq", "Ireland", "Isle of Man", "Israel", "Italy", "Jamaica", "Japan", "Jersey", "Jordan", "Kazakhstan", "Kenya", "Kerguelen Islands", "Kiribati", "Korea", "Kuwait", "Kyrgyz Rep", "Laos", "Latvia", "Lebanon", "Lesotho", "Liberia", "Libya", "Liechtenstein", "Lithuania", "Luxembourg", "Macao", "Macedonia", "Madagascar", "Malawi", "Malaysia", "Maldives", "Mali", "Malta", "Marshall Islands", "Martinique", "Mauritania", "Mauritius", "Mayotte", "Mexico", "Micronesia", "Moldova", "Monaco", "Mongolia", "Montenegro", "Montserrat", "Morocco", "Mozambique", "Myanmar", "N. Mariana Isl", "Namibia", "Nauru", "Nepal", "Netherlands", "Netherlands Antilles", "New Caledonia", "New Zealand", "Nicaragua", "Niger", "Nigeria", "Niue", "Norfolk Island", "Norway", "Oman", "Pakistan", "Palau", "Palestine", "Panama", "Papua New Guinea", "Paraguay", "Peru", "Philippines", "Pitcairn Island", "Poland", "Portugal", "Portugal (Madeira)", "Puerto Rico", "Qatar", "Reunion", "Romania", "Russia", "Rwanda", "S.Georgia & S.Sandwich Isls", "Saint Helena", "Saint Martin (FR)", "Samoa", "San Marino", "Sao Tome & Principe", "Saudi Arabia", "Senegal", "Serbia", "Seychelles", "Sierra Leone", "Singapore", "Sint Maarten (NL)", "Slovakia", "Slovenia", "Solomon Islands", "Somalia", "South Africa", "South Sudan", "Spain", "Sri Lanka", "St Kitts & Nevis", "St Lucia", "St Paul & Amsterdam Isl", "St Pierre & Miquelon", "St Vincent & Grenadines", "Sudan", "Suriname", "Svalbard & Jan Mayen", "Swaziland", "Sweden", "Switzerland", "Syria", "Tahiti", "Taiwan", "Tajikistan", "Tanzania", "Thailand", "Togolese Rep", "Tokelau", "Tonga", "Trinidad & Tobago", "Tunisia", "Turkey", "Turkmenistan", "Turks & Caicos Isl", "Tuvalu", "US Minor Outlying Isls", "US Virgin Islands", "Uganda", "Ukraine", "United Arab Emirates (UAE)", "United Kingdom (UK)", "United States (USA)", "Unknown", "Uruguay", "Uzbekistan", "Vanuatu", "Vatican", "Venezuela", "Vietnam", "Wallis and Futuna", "Western Sahara", "Yemen", "Zambia", "Zimbabwe")
- `ship_type` (string, nullable) — Filter by ship type / class (one of: "All Cargo Vessels", "Bulk carrier", "General Cargo", "Container Ship", "Reefer", "Ro-Ro", "Vehicles Carrier", "Cement Carrier", "Wood Chips Carrier", "Urea Carrier", "Aggregates Carrier", "Limestone Carrier", "Landing Craft", "Livestock Carrier", "Heavy Load Carrier", "All Tankers", "Crude Oil Tanker", "Oil Products Tanker", "Chemical/Oil Tanker", "LNG Tanker", "LPG Tanker", "Asphalt/Bitumen", "Bunkering Tanker", "FSO/FPSO", "Other Tanker", "All Passenger/Cruise Ships", "Cruise Ship", "Passenger/Cargo Ship", "Passenger/Ro-Ro Ship", "Passenger Ship", "Fishing ships", "Yachts/Sailing Vessels", "Military", "Tugs", "Other type/ Auxiliary", "Unknown")
- `min_length` (integer, nullable) — Minimum length overall in meters (min: 0)
- `max_length` (integer, nullable) — Maximum length overall in meters (min: 0)
- `min_gross_tonnage` (integer, nullable) — Minimum gross tonnage (min: 0)
- `max_gross_tonnage` (integer, nullable) — Maximum gross tonnage (min: 0)
- `min_deadweight` (integer, nullable) — Minimum deadweight in tonnes (min: 0)
- `max_deadweight` (integer, nullable) — Maximum deadweight in tonnes (min: 0)
- `min_year` (integer, nullable) — Minimum year of build (min: 1900)
- `max_year` (integer, nullable) — Maximum year of build (min: 1900)
- `in_service` (boolean) — Restrict to vessels currently in service (default: true)

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "VesselFinderVesselSearchResult")
- `id` (string, required)
- `name` (string, required)
- `ship_type` (string, nullable)
- `flag` (string, nullable)
- `flag_code` (string, nullable)
- `year_built` (integer, nullable)
- `gross_tonnage` (integer, nullable)
- `deadweight` (integer, nullable)
- `length_overall` (number, nullable)
- `beam` (number, nullable)
- `url` (string, required)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The request body did not validate

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.