A vessel dossier is a PDF with a check date on it — everything we hold on a vessel in one document: who owns it and who owned it before, a sanctions screening, particulars and class, port state control inspections and detentions, and where the vessel has been trading over recent months. It arrives by email and stays in your account.
The document is built from data we already hold, so it arrives immediately — usually within seconds.
How the dossier differs from the vessel page
The vessel page shows part of this on screen, for free. The dossier differs in four ways:
- A check date in the header. The document states the moment the data was verified — that is what you attach to correspondence or to a decision on a deal.
- Completeness. On the page some blocks are gated by plan; in the document they are always present, whatever your subscription: you paid for a document, not for a page view.
- Sections the page does not carry at all. Ownership history with the date each role changed hands, and laden-versus-ballast statistics.
- Form. One file you forward onward, instead of fifteen tabs.
What is inside
| Section |
What it shows |
| Identification |
IMO, MMSI, call sign, flag, ship type and status, home port |
| Particulars |
year and place of build, gross and net tonnage, deadweight, dimensions, sub-type, hull material, class and its notation, navigation area, P&I insurer, main engine |
| Sanctions screening |
the result of screening the vessel and its related companies against official lists |
| Owners and managers |
registered owner, ship manager and ISM manager, with the sanctions status of each |
| Ownership history |
the registry chain with each role's period — from when to when |
| Port state control |
inspections with dates, ports, deficiency counts and outcome |
| Where the vessel traded |
ports over the observation window: how many calls, how long it stayed, when it last arrived |
| Repeated routes |
port pairs the vessel sailed more than once |
| Laden and ballast |
how many voyages ran laden, how many in ballast, how many stayed undetermined |
| Name and flag history |
the period each name and each flag was in effect |
| Class history |
class assigned, renewals and withdrawals with the reason — by society and date |
Where we hold nothing for a field, the document says "no data": no inspections means missing data, not "clean", and the document says so plainly.
What the trading sections mean
Three sections — "Where the vessel traded", "Repeated routes" and "Laden and ballast" — answer a question neither the registry nor port state control settles: what the vessel is doing now. A bulker shuttling between two ports for the third month and a bulker of identical particulars on a transocean leg are different propositions.
Read them with two caveats, and the document states both:
- The observation window is printed in the section itself and is computed from actual coverage. A call we did not observe is not in the document — and that is not the same as the absence of a call.
- Cargo state is inferred from the draught the vessel broadcasts itself. Not every vessel does, so the number of undetermined voyages is printed on its own line, and the ballast share is computed only over voyages that carry the signal — stating plainly how many of how many. Below four classified voyages no share is given.
What the order card shows
Above the order button sits the table of contents of the future document with real numbers for this vessel: how many particulars will print, the sanctions screening result, how many ownership, name and flag history records, how many inspections and detentions, how many port calls over the observation window. The numbers are computed from the same data the document itself is built from, so they always match it.
How to order
There are two ways in — from the Research section and from a vessel page. Neither needs registration: the purchase creates the account.
From the Research section — when you know the vessel's name but not its page:
- Open Research and press Pick a vessel on the Vessel dossier card.
- Type the name or the IMO number. Two characters are enough; matching vessels appear as a list.
- Choose the vessel. A card opens with the table of contents of the document for that vessel: how many particulars will be printed, the sanctions screening result, how many ownership records, inspections and port calls. It is the same card that sits in the right-hand column of a vessel page — it confirms both that you picked the right ship and what the document will contain.
- Enter the email the document should go to and press Build the dossier.
- Complete the payment. Pressing the payment button means you accept the Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Policy — the line under the button says so.
From a vessel page — when you are already on one: find the Vessel dossier card in the right-hand column, press Build the dossier, and go through the same email and payment steps.
From the map — when you found the ship on Ports & vessels: tap it, and the card at the bottom of the screen carries a row of actions — Dossier, Track, Page, Replay. Tapping Dossier opens the same dialog with the document's table of contents and the email field.
The document arrives by email with the subject “Vessel dossier — (IMO …)” and appears under Research → My reports.
How to get into the account if you did not have one
The purchase creates the account itself, on the address you gave. There is no password to set — signing in works differently:
- The email with the document carries an Open my account button. It works once and lasts 30 minutes.
- If the button no longer works, open the sign-in page and pick Sign in with an email code. Enter the same address and you get a six-digit code — it also lasts 30 minutes and works once.
- On the first sign-in we ask for your country and your agreement to the documents: the country decides which document pack we must issue you. It is a single screen and you can fill it in later — your purchased documents stay in the account throughout.
The same is written on the order page the checkout returns you to.
A dossier can be built for any vessel in the registry: the Research search covers the whole registry.
A registry vessel also has its own card at /vessels/<IMO>-<name>. It opens whether or not an overview text has been written for that ship: particulars, class, inspections, sanctions screening, name and flag history and the ownership chain are shown either way, and the Vessel dossier card with the document's table of contents sits in the right-hand column. You reach it from vessel search and from a vessel card on the map.
See a sample before you buy
Under the order button there is a "See a sample dossier" link. It opens the same document you would receive, marked "SAMPLE" in the header and in every footer.
There are two samples, and which one opens depends on whether a vessel has been picked:
- A vessel is picked — from a vessel page or from the picker card: the sample is built for that vessel. Its sections and record counts are real; the values are hidden and unlock after payment. This answers "what exactly will I get for this ship".
- No vessel is picked — from the pricing showcase: the sample is fictional. Its vessel, numbers, companies, dates and ports refer to no real ship.
It is a full document rather than a mock-up: the same sections at the same depth — how the inspection table reads, what the sanctions screening says, how the ownership chain is laid out, and how the port calls are shown. The language follows the page — the English page opens the English document.
Which language the document is in
For you the dossier is built in English only — one file, one language, nothing to choose at checkout.
Is the dossier included in a subscription
Paid plans carry a monthly quota, counted per organisation rather than per person:
| Plan |
Dossiers per month |
| Free |
none |
| PRO |
1 |
| ENTERPRISE |
3 |
The free allowance is taken by the account owner; a team member can buy a document themselves. Beyond the quota a dossier is bought one-off or in a discounted bundle — see Check bundles. Purchased dossiers never consume the quota.
The dossier costs $19.99. Press Build the dossier — $19.99 on the vessel page and pay by card; the document is emailed to you and stays in your account. See a sample dossier next to the button shows what you get before you pay.
How long it is kept and can it be downloaded again
The order stays in your account and remains available whatever plan you are on. Only the order's owner can download it: the link checks who is opening it.
If you are signed in and buy the same document again within 24 hours of the purchase, the order you already have opens instead of checkout — no second payment. If you need a fresh version sooner, contact support.
If the document does not arrive
Check your spam folder, then open Research → My reports: the document is available there even when the email did not get through. If the order is marked as failed, we already know and are looking into it.
Full vessel history as a separate PDF
If you do not need the whole dossier but do need the history, that is a separate document: every port call and completed voyage accumulated up to the moment of purchase, with a check date on the cover.
There are two ways to order it:
- From the home page — the "Full vessel history" button in the "Voyage and port-call history" block. You then pick the vessel by name or IMO.
- From a vessel page — the download button in the history block.
Before payment the card shows what the snapshot will cover for the chosen vessel: the observation window, how many completed voyages and how many port calls. If we have seen no port calls in the window, the card says so plainly — you will not pay for an empty snapshot.
It is a snapshot, not a subscription: it freezes the archive at build time and is not updated, so new calls will not appear in it. To keep following the vessel, PRO opens 21 days of history on the site and hourly position refresh.
Like the dossier, the snapshot arrives by email and stays under Research → My reports.
See also