Visualizing Historical Vessel Positions on a World Map with the Vessel Tracking API and Python

This project retrieves historical vessel positions from the Vessel Tracking API and visualizes the route as a static map and animated GIF.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or later
• Visual Studio Code with the Jupyter extension
• A Vessel Tracking API key

Installation

Install the required packages:

py -m pip install --upgrade pip
py -m pip install -r requirements.txt

API configuration

Create a config.ini file in the same directory as the notebook:

[vessel_tracking]
api_key = apikey-v1 YOUR_API_KEY

Do not commit this file. Add it to .gitignore:

config.ini
.venv/
*.gif

Run the notebook

Open vessel-position-visualization.ipynb and run its cells in order.

The notebook will:

1. Retrieve historical vessel positions.
2. Clean and order the returned data.
3. Plot the route on a map.
4. Create and save an animated GIF.