diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 908aa8f..233cc4c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,6 +70,28 @@ Open **http://localhost:5173**
 | http://localhost:8002/docs | API |
 | http://localhost:7475 | Neo4j Browser |
 
+
+### Kafka → Neo4j loaders (optional)
+
+With the full compose stack, conflict and vessel consumers load Kafka topics into Neo4j:
+
+```bash
+docker compose up -d kafka zookeeper neo4j graph-loader vessel-loader
+```
+
+| Service | Consumer | Writes |
+|---------|----------|--------|
+| `graph-loader` | `python -m src.consumers graph-loader` | `:Event` nodes from GDELT/conflict topics |
+| `vessel-loader` | `python -m src.consumers vessel-loader` | `:Vessel` nodes (+ chokepoint links) from AIS topics |
+| `rag-indexer` | `python -m src.consumers rag-indexer` | Qdrant embeddings from conflict events |
+
+Local one-shot (without compose services):
+
+```bash
+make consume-graph    # or: python -m src.consumers graph-loader
+make consume-vessel   # or: python -m src.consumers vessel-loader
+```
+
 ### ERP tier-N demo (optional)
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 238052f..1d6c54b 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -127,6 +127,39 @@ services:
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
 
+
+  # Graph loader — Kafka conflict events → Neo4j :Event nodes
+  graph-loader:
+    build: .
+    command: python -m src.consumers graph-loader --max-messages 0
+    environment:
+      - KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS=kafka:29092
+      - NEO4J_URI=bolt://neo4j:7687
+      - NEO4J_USER=neo4j
+      - NEO4J_PASSWORD=${NEO4J_PASSWORD:-meridian_password}
+    depends_on:
+      kafka:
+        condition: service_healthy
+      neo4j:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
+  # Vessel loader — AISHub vessel events → Neo4j :Vessel nodes
+  vessel-loader:
+    build: .
+    command: python -m src.consumers vessel-loader --max-messages 0
+    environment:
+      - KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS=kafka:29092
+      - NEO4J_URI=bolt://neo4j:7687
+      - NEO4J_USER=neo4j
+      - NEO4J_PASSWORD=${NEO4J_PASSWORD:-meridian_password}
+    depends_on:
+      kafka:
+        condition: service_healthy
+      neo4j:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
   # RAG indexer — streams Kafka conflict events into Qdrant
   rag-indexer:
     build: .