diff --git a/changelog.d/1056-area-tool-breakdowns.md b/changelog.d/1056-area-tool-breakdowns.md
index 67ec8d766..5425b3651 100644
--- a/changelog.d/1056-area-tool-breakdowns.md
+++ b/changelog.d/1056-area-tool-breakdowns.md
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@
   of estimating from the returned rows. Airlines come from the ICAO designator
   in each callsign (SWA1234 counts as SWA), so the breakdown works on feeds
   that report no operator; operator and type are counted only where the feed
-  reports them; AIS ship type 0 ("not available") counts as unknown
+  reports them. Ship types count by family, so AIS codes 70 to 79 are all
+  cargo, and type 0 ("not available") counts as unknown
   (quanticsoul4772, #1056).
diff --git a/scripts/package-boundaries.json b/scripts/package-boundaries.json
index 43bc3d4de..07f2545a3 100644
--- a/scripts/package-boundaries.json
+++ b/scripts/package-boundaries.json
@@ -1040,6 +1040,7 @@
       "src/layers/vessels/tracking.js",
       "src/data/iconOrientation.js",
       "src/data/vesselLabels.js",
+      "src/data/vesselTypes.js",
       "src/layers/vessels/records.js",
       "src/layers/vessels/recordPolicy.js",
       "src/layers/vessels/snapshotRenderer.js",
@@ -1841,6 +1842,7 @@
       "src/data/trafficQueue.js",
       "src/data/trailRenderer.js",
       "src/data/vesselLabels.js",
+      "src/data/vesselTypes.js",
       "src/firstRunExperience.js",
       "src/hud.js",
       "src/hudLocality.js",
@@ -2629,6 +2631,7 @@
       "src/data/trafficQueue.js",
       "src/data/trailRenderer.js",
       "src/data/vesselLabels.js",
+      "src/data/vesselTypes.js",
       "src/keylessGeocoder.js",
       "src/layers/aircraft/classification.js",
       "src/layers/alpr/index.js",
@@ -3782,6 +3785,7 @@
       "src/tools/queries/maritime.js",
       "src/tools/queries/share.js",
       "src/data/idSwitches.js",
+      "src/data/vesselTypes.js",
       "src/data/layerState.js",
       "src/data/layerStateTokenReservations.json",
       "src/sources/gbfsStations.js",
diff --git a/src/data/vesselLabels.js b/src/data/vesselLabels.js
index 311a238c6..fbf209040 100644
--- a/src/data/vesselLabels.js
+++ b/src/data/vesselLabels.js
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
  */
 
 import { t, msg } from '../i18n/index.js';
+import { normalizeVesselType } from './vesselTypes.js';
+
+export { normalizeVesselType };
 
 export const VESSEL_OVERLAY_SOURCE_ID = 'ais-live-vessels';
 /** Existing selector grid size; one ambient winner is retained per cell. */
@@ -43,31 +46,6 @@ const TYPE_STYLES = [
 ];
 const DEFAULT_STYLE = { css: '#39d5ff', accent: '57, 213, 255' };
 
-const NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS = {
-  30: 'FISHING',
-  31: 'TOWING',
-  32: 'TOWING',
-  33: 'DREDGER',
-  34: 'DIVE OPS',
-  35: 'MILITARY',
-  36: 'SAILING',
-  37: 'PLEASURE',
-  50: 'PILOT',
-  51: 'SAR',
-  52: 'TUG',
-  53: 'PORT TENDER',
-  54: 'ANTI-POLLUTION',
-  55: 'LAW ENFORCE',
-  58: 'MEDICAL',
-};
-const NUMERIC_TYPE_FAMILIES = {
-  4: 'HIGH-SPEED',
-  6: 'PASSENGER',
-  7: 'CARGO',
-  8: 'TANKER',
-  9: 'OTHER',
-};
-
 // Card text for the type tokens above. The tokens stay English: TYPE_STYLES
 // and tests match on them.
 const TYPE_DISPLAY_KEYS = Object.freeze({
@@ -104,21 +82,6 @@ export function displayVesselType(type) {
   return key ? t(key) : normalized;
 }
 
-/**
- * Resolve an AIS type to display text: bare numeric ship-type codes map to
- * family names ("71" → "CARGO"); text types pass through unchanged.
- * @param {string} type Raw AIS type.
- * @returns {string}
- */
-export function normalizeVesselType(type) {
-  const text = String(type || '').trim();
-  if (!text || !/^\d{1,2}$/.test(text)) return text;
-  const code = Number(text);
-  if (code <= 0) return '';
-  if (NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS[code]) return NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS[code];
-  return NUMERIC_TYPE_FAMILIES[Math.floor(code / 10)] || 'OTHER';
-}
-
 /** AIS ship type → CSS hex hue for the billboard chevron. */
 export function vesselTypeCss(type) {
   return styleForType(type).css;
diff --git a/src/data/vesselTypes.js b/src/data/vesselTypes.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12886795c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/data/vesselTypes.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/**
+ * @module vesselTypes
+ * @description AIS ship-type codes (ITU-R M.1371) to family names, with no
+ * browser or i18n dependencies so the server-side query tools can use it.
+ */
+
+const NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS = {
+  30: 'FISHING',
+  31: 'TOWING',
+  32: 'TOWING',
+  33: 'DREDGER',
+  34: 'DIVE OPS',
+  35: 'MILITARY',
+  36: 'SAILING',
+  37: 'PLEASURE',
+  50: 'PILOT',
+  51: 'SAR',
+  52: 'TUG',
+  53: 'PORT TENDER',
+  54: 'ANTI-POLLUTION',
+  55: 'LAW ENFORCE',
+  58: 'MEDICAL',
+};
+const NUMERIC_TYPE_FAMILIES = {
+  4: 'HIGH-SPEED',
+  6: 'PASSENGER',
+  7: 'CARGO',
+  8: 'TANKER',
+  9: 'OTHER',
+};
+
+/**
+ * Resolve an AIS type to display text: bare numeric ship-type codes map to
+ * family names ("71" → "CARGO"); text types pass through unchanged.
+ * @param {string} type Raw AIS type.
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+export function normalizeVesselType(type) {
+  const text = String(type || '').trim();
+  if (!text || !/^\d{1,2}$/.test(text)) return text;
+  const code = Number(text);
+  if (code <= 0) return '';
+  if (NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS[code]) return NUMERIC_TYPE_SPECIALS[code];
+  return NUMERIC_TYPE_FAMILIES[Math.floor(code / 10)] || 'OTHER';
+}
diff --git a/src/tools/queries/maritime.js b/src/tools/queries/maritime.js
index b5bdc4afe..5798a0936 100644
--- a/src/tools/queries/maritime.js
+++ b/src/tools/queries/maritime.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
   numericSummary,
   thinEvenly,
 } from '../results.js';
+import { normalizeVesselType } from '../../data/vesselTypes.js';
 
 const MMSI_SCHEMA = Object.freeze({
   type: 'string',
@@ -32,11 +33,17 @@ const ALL_VESSELS = 1_000_000;
 const round = (value, digits) =>
   Number.isFinite(value) ? Number(value.toFixed(digits)) : null;
 const text = (value) => (typeof value === 'string' && value ? value : null);
-// AIS ship type 0 is "not available" (ITU-R M.1371); the source keeps it as
-// '0', so it is reported as unknown rather than counted as a type.
-const vesselType = (value) => {
-  const type = text(value);
-  return type === '0' ? null : type;
+// AIS sends ship types as ITU-R M.1371 codes ("70" to "79" are all cargo), so
+// a code reads as its family ("CARGO"), which is what group_by counts and the
+// type filter matches; text types pass through. Type 0 is "not available" and
+// reads as unknown.
+const vesselType = (value) => normalizeVesselType(text(value) ?? '') || null;
+
+// Crews type the destination by hand; one with no letters ("0", "---") names
+// no port and reads as unknown.
+const vesselDestination = (value) => {
+  const destination = text(value);
+  return destination && /\p{L}/u.test(destination) ? destination : null;
 };
 
 function vesselRow(record, from) {
@@ -46,7 +53,7 @@ function vesselRow(record, from) {
     name: text(record.name),
     imo: text(record.imo),
     type: vesselType(record.type),
-    destination: text(record.destination),
+    destination: vesselDestination(record.destination),
     lat: round(record.latitude, 5),
     lon: round(record.longitude, 5),
     speed_mps: round(record.speedMps, 1),
@@ -134,7 +141,8 @@ export const vesselsInArea = defineTool({
       .filter(
         (record) =>
           areaContains(area, { lat: record.latitude, lon: record.longitude }) &&
-          (!wanted || String(record.type).toLowerCase().includes(wanted)),
+          (!wanted ||
+            (vesselType(record.type) ?? '').toLowerCase().includes(wanted)),
       )
       .map((record) => vesselRow(record, center))
       .sort((a, b) => a.distance_km - b.distance_km);
diff --git a/src/tools/queries/maritime.test.mjs b/src/tools/queries/maritime.test.mjs
index f1d09bccb..dfa1fd761 100644
--- a/src/tools/queries/maritime.test.mjs
+++ b/src/tools/queries/maritime.test.mjs
@@ -263,6 +263,63 @@ test('AIS type 0 (not available) is counted as unknown, not as a type', async ()
   );
 });
 
+test('numeric AIS ship-type codes group and filter by their family', async () => {
+  const catalog = composeCatalog({
+    tools: coreTools,
+    services: {
+      vessels: vessels({
+        records: [
+          vessel('366000001', 37.78, -122.4, { type: '70' }),
+          vessel('366000002', 37.79, -122.41, { type: '74' }),
+          vessel('366000003', 37.77, -122.39, { type: '79' }),
+          vessel('366000004', 37.76, -122.38, { type: '80' }),
+          vessel('366000005', 37.75, -122.37, { type: '52' }),
+        ],
+      }),
+    },
+  });
+  const grouped = await catalog.call('vessels_in_area', {
+    area: bay,
+    group_by: 'type',
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(grouped.data.breakdown.groups, [
+    { value: 'CARGO', count: 3 },
+    { value: 'TANKER', count: 1 },
+    { value: 'TUG', count: 1 },
+  ]);
+  const tankers = await catalog.call('vessels_in_area', {
+    area: bay,
+    type: 'tanker',
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    tankers.data.rows.map((row) => [row.mmsi, row.type]),
+    [['366000004', 'TANKER']],
+  );
+});
+
+test('a destination with no letters counts as unknown', async () => {
+  const catalog = composeCatalog({
+    tools: coreTools,
+    services: {
+      vessels: vessels({
+        records: [
+          vessel('366000001', 37.78, -122.4, { destination: '0' }),
+          vessel('366000002', 37.79, -122.41, { destination: '---' }),
+          vessel('366000003', 37.77, -122.39, { destination: 'NLRTM' }),
+        ],
+      }),
+    },
+  });
+  const result = await catalog.call('vessels_in_area', {
+    area: bay,
+    group_by: 'destination',
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(result.data.breakdown.groups, [
+    { value: 'NLRTM', count: 1 },
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(result.data.breakdown.unknown_count, 2);
+});
+
 test('vessels in an area can be counted by destination with a speed summary', async () => {
   const catalog = composeCatalog({
     tools: coreTools,