Conflicting Information...

John 32i

John 32i

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How accurate are sites such as vessel finder?

I just checked my boat details ‘Tean’ nothing. Call sign 2EEE6 nothing. MMSI 235084352 and this shows boat HJGHLAND FLING with my photo and call sign 2BYZ9 location Caribbean.

Checked on Ship Station website and it shows my details as being correct and HIGHLAND FLING (spelt correctly) call 2BYZ9 but MMSI 235081314

Checked ap Findship. This confirms Tean with all my details, in the Caribbean ( I am in the UK). Marine traffic shows various conflicting information too.

So what has happened – I changed all my electronics late last year -could someone be using my old AIS or VHF?
 
John 32i said:
….

So what has happened – I changed all my electronics late last year -could someone be using my old AIS or VHF?
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Did you sell your old kit? It often needs to go back to supplier to change MMSI number and many buying old kit find that a hassle so some don’t bother.
Marine Traffic seems to have the correct information, assuming you are an HR 310 based somewhere near Suffolk Yacht Harbour?
 
You can't rely on the internet apps, best to get a nearby boat to look up your AIS transmission on their plotter, this will show the raw data.

Is your new install an AIS transceiver (ie transmitter and receiver). What happened to your old AIS transceiver? Did you sell it on Ebay?

Not many VHF radios transmit AIS, was your old one a receive only or a transceiver version. If the former then this won't have any effect on internet traffic reporting, it's only if someone pushes the DSC button will your old MMSI be transmitted and even that isn't picked up by the marine traffic sites, they use AIS, not DSC data.
 
dunedin said:
Did you sell your old kit? It often needs to go back to supplier to change MMSI number and many buying old kit find that a hassle so some don’t bother.
Marine Traffic seems to have the correct information, assuming you are an HR 310 based somewhere near Suffolk Yacht Harbour?
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Interesting Marine Traffic doesn't work for me. All the old equipment was 'traded in' with the supplier of the new stuff.
 
wonkywinch said:
You can't rely on the internet apps, best to get a nearby boat to look up your AIS transmission on their plotter, this will show the raw data.

Is your new install an AIS transceiver (ie transmitter and receiver). What happened to your old AIS transceiver? Did you sell it on Ebay?

Not many VHF radios transmit AIS, was your old one a receive only or a transceiver version. If the former then this won't have any effect on internet traffic reporting, it's only if someone pushes the DSC button will your old MMSI be transmitted and even that isn't picked up by the marine traffic sites, they use AIS, not DSC data.
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Thanks - will check at the weekend. I had my plotter/VHF and AIS (receive & transmit) replaced end of 2025,the supplier discounted the price with a 'trade in' on the old stuff.
 
John 32i said:
Interesting Marine Traffic doesn't work for me. All the old equipment was 'traded in' with the supplier of the new stuff.
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I'd ask them what they did with it. It's "your" MMSI after all.

Marine Traffic shows TEAN left Suffolk on 26th March and now in Saint Maarten.

MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic

Vesselfinder shows HJGHLAND FLING also located in Saint Maarten.

HJGHLAND FLING Current position (Sailing vessel, MMSI 235084352) - VesselFinder

I reckon the AIS was sold without MMSI being wiped and has found it's way onto a boat located there.
 
wonkywinch said:
I'd ask them what they did with it. It's "your" MMSI after all.

Marine Traffic shows TEAN left Suffolk on 26th March and now in Saint Maarten.

MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic

Vesselfinder shows HJGHLAND FLING also located in Saint Maarten.

HJGHLAND FLING Current position (Sailing vessel, MMSI 235084352) - VesselFinder

I reckon the AIS was sold without MMSI being wiped and has found it's way onto a boat located there.
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The dealer assures me it was wiped before been sold on. Thinks maybe someone has entered my MMSI in error. Seems unlikely...4352 instead of 1314 :the plot thickens!
 
It would help if you list your old AIS/VHF model and new model. The reason, if your old VHF had an AIS transceiver then there will be two devices that potentially could broadcast your MMSI.

Secondly, if your new kit is AIS receive only, then the databases of marine traffic etc will never get updated as you are listen only with the new gear.

If your new AIS is a transceiver, when was it last switched on and are there any Vesselfinder or Marine Traffic receivers in the vicinity of your boat to inject your AIS data onto the internet?
 
The Marine Traffic algorithm which associates boat data with location can go wrong. A couple of years back I could see a boat icon at the spot in which I was anchored. BUT searching for my boat brought "no vessel found" and clicking on the icon brought only a Union Jack flag and (something like) "no vessel data." After the help desk had put me through all the usual delete & reinstall app, update device, restart device etc etc etc they went away to have a think. Then two days later confirmed my suggestion that boat and data had become dissociated........ Maybe one boat's data could get attached to another, in a similar way?

EDIT On a separate occasion I anchored up, in the Medway, after returning from Texel via Scheveningen and Pin Mill. To my surprise I saw that the app showed a 'ghost' return voyage, in a completely straight line, from my Medway anchorage back to Texel. Whilst I'd slept overnight!
 
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wonkywinch said:
It would help if you list your old AIS/VHF model and new model. The reason, if your old VHF had an AIS transceiver then there will be two devices that potentially could broadcast your MMSI.

Secondly, if your new kit is AIS receive only, then the databases of marine traffic etc will never get updated as you are listen only with the new gear.

If your new AIS is a transceiver, when was it last switched on and are there any Vesselfinder or Marine Traffic receivers in the vicinity of your boat to inject your AIS data onto the internet?
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ICOM IC M603 DSC VHF and ICOM MA510 TR class B Standalone AIS - replaced with ICOM M510 Evo VHF and Raymarine AIS700 class B+ AIS transponder, all up and running within the last two weeks - heading to the boat tomorrow for further check.
 
It seems easy for ITU/Ofcom to have the same yacht with different MMSI/Call signs. Boat sold years ago, changed hands twice since, one buyer didn't get given radio licence details, so registered again as new licence.

Hit this and tried to get Ofcom to fix - "....you need the original owner with MMSI XXXXXX to tell us he has sold the boat". As he was nearly 20 years dead slightly difficult ..... Boat still has two sets of calls signs and MMSIs, one registered to a long dead earlier owner.
 
John 32i said:
ICOM IC M603 DSC VHF and ICOM MA510 TR class B Standalone AIS - replaced with ICOM M510 Evo VHF and Raymarine AIS700 class B+ AIS transponder, all up and running within the last two weeks - heading to the boat tomorrow for further check.
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Perfect, thank you. Neither old nor new VHF are AIS transceiver equipped and both your old/new AIS devices are class B transceivers so it's the old MA510 that's maybe not set up right with the new owner, in which case, I'd speak to the installers again. Maybe they forgot to wipe it and new owners don't want to spend $50 on the reset.
 
ITU knows who you are and who he is.
The only way for vessel trackers to mix you up is if he is squawking your MMSI. Track where he's sailed from and where your AIS was shipped to.
 
On a flight stopover in Gothenburg, I was engaged in a 'Heisenberg effect' conversation with a chap at the bar, where we both had delays of a few hours before getting our separate flights to wherever.
He stated that Whisky became even more tasty and desirable as the bottle was emptied, as it became 'scarcer'. Because it was becoming scarcer, and (perhaps) soon to be unobtainable, and we were unable to locate any more, was this adding to the desirability of it?
 
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