maritime_estimate_position
Estimate a ship's position on any date along historical trade routes using linear interpolation between waypoints, aiding wreck location and lost voyage investigation.
Instructions
Estimate a ship's position on a specific date based on its route.
Uses linear interpolation between historical route waypoints to estimate where a ship would have been on a given date, assuming typical sailing times. Works with all 18 routes across VOC, EIC, Carreira, Galleon, and SOIC. Essential for investigating wreck locations and lost voyages.
Args: route_id: Route identifier (from maritime_list_routes or maritime_get_route). See maritime_get_route for full list. departure_date: Ship's departure date as YYYY-MM-DD target_date: Date to estimate position for as YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., last known date, or estimated loss date) use_speed_profiles: If True, enrich estimate with CLIWOC-derived speed statistics for the current route segment (default False) output_mode: Response format — "json" (default) or "text"
Returns: JSON or text with estimated lat/lon, region, route segment, confidence level, and caveats
Tips for LLMs: - Get the departure_date from maritime_get_voyage - Choose route_id based on the voyage's departure/destination ports (use maritime_list_routes to find matching routes) - The estimate is based on TYPICAL sailing times — actual positions varied due to weather, ship condition, and orders - Confidence is "high" at known ports, "moderate" between waypoints, "low" past the expected arrival date - Use maritime_lookup_location on the estimated region for more geographic context - Combine with maritime_assess_position for uncertainty analysis
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| route_id | Yes | ||
| departure_date | Yes | ||
| target_date | Yes | ||
| use_speed_profiles | No | ||
| output_mode | No | json |