MMSI Bandit

[DW1979OA]

This is a bit of a rant against people not doing the right thing. I have a buddy that follows my AIS/ MMSI when ever I go somewhere with the boat. What he finds is that when my boat gets in some remote areas where the signal gets obscured, it jumps down to Dana Point where there is a boat by the same name as mine, Dream Weaver. Now I have a slow trawler and I'm cruising the PNW, so that kind of speed would be exceptional.
Since I have a ships station license, I called up the FCC and had a chat with a very nice person who basically said that they just issue the license and do not enforce it. So no love there.
Next I tried the coast guard, and they said they couldn't do anything either, but that if there was an emergency they would figure it out.
I next tried to get in touch with the owner of the boat which is in Dana Point by going thru the port manager there. Called several times and did not get thru. Sent a letter to the port manager and asked him to pass the info along to the other boat. Followed up but got nothing.,
Talked to my long time insurance agent, and nothing there either.

So I've probably wasted your time reading this just like I wasted my time trying to get things right. My MMSI is 367636660 if you are interested. And if you happened to be in the Dana Point marina, and can give this guy a nudge to get his equipment straightened out, I'd appreciate it
End of rant. I feel better now. Thanks.

jp

 

[Comodave]

Are you saying the other boat is using your MMSI number?

 

[John R M]

Now I have a slow trawler and I'm cruising the PNW, so that kind of speed would be exceptional.

Huh?

 

[twistedtree]

Perhaps someone in that area can check to see what's being received on an actual AIS device, rather than what MarineTraffic is reporting. I think MarineTraffic mines data from all sorts of places, and I really don't trust much of anything that it shows. An actual AIS device will show you what is actually being transmitted by the other Dream Weaver's AIS.


And by the way, here are details on the other boat and owner. But I would really confirm that his boat is making incorrect transmissions, as opposed to bugs in MarineTraffic.


Boat #947470 | DREAM WEAVER | Boat Database

 

[menzies]

Huh?

To go from the PNW to Dana Point in a day.

 

[High Wire]

I looked up 367636660 in Vessel Finder app and it shows the Dana Point location. So it's not just a Marine Traffic flaw. Interesting.

 

[twistedtree]

The Dana point boat has a long expired SA license. I'll bet your MMSI was previously assigned to him, and after his SA license was expired long enough, the FCC reused the MMSI and assigned it to you. Just a guess, but I think it would make sense.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

WOW Good luck. If it was issued by the FCC..., well you know how the dealing with the government.

 

[ScottC]

It's simply amazing to me that they could design a number that's supposed to be a unique identifier...and then re-use it so soon. Especially considering the ugly implications with regard to rescue. I know they re-use social security numbers. Apparently, there's better control over the social security number system...

 

[ghost]

It's simply amazing to me that they could design a number that's supposed to be a unique identifier...and then re-use it so soon. Especially considering the ugly implications with regard to rescue. I know they re-use social security numbers. Apparently, there's better control over the social security number system...

If you know enough to call it a unique identifier, you should have zero surprise that someone was brilliant enough to mismanage it. A unique identifier should ideally never be re-used. That’s kind of the whole point.

Of course the fact that the US decided to not allow users to maintain their MMSI means that the original owner with little incentive is actually unable to change his MMSI on his own and must pay someone. Yeah it’s illegal for him to broadcast, but nobody will go after him.

If I were the original poster, I’d petition for a new MMSI and hope to get one that is in fact unique. I had the same issue, but realized that my Vesper repair unit had been shipped to a boat in NZ, while theirs was shipped to me. We both reprogrammed and got our unique numbers back.

 

[porman]

Could it be that one number was issued by the FCC and the other was issued by BoatUS?

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

It will be a PIA, but cancel the current MMSI be it with FCC or BoatUS. Once this is done you will have to take all the equipment that has an MMSI to an authorized shop to re-enter the new MMSI.

Again good luck.

 

[BDofMSP]

Am I missing something, or is this the biggest coincidence in history that the previous assignee and the current assignee's boats both have the same name? Hard to imagine. Seems like some other SNAFU somewhere.

BD

 

[BDofMSP]

And by the way, here are details on the other boat and owner. But I would really confirm that his boat is making incorrect transmissions, as opposed to bugs in MarineTraffic.


Boat #947470 | DREAM WEAVER | Boat Database

Where is boatdb getting it's data from? USCG stopped publishing all of that personal information several years ago as far as I know.

BD

 

[rslifkin]

Where is boatdb getting it's data from? USCG stopped publishing all of that personal information several years ago as far as I know.

BD

I think it's old data and just hasn't been updated in years.

 

[twistedtree]

Am I missing something, or is this the biggest coincidence in history that the previous assignee and the current assignee's boats both have the same name? Hard to imagine. Seems like some other SNAFU somewhere.

BD

Correct. There is more to this than meets the eye.


I still think an important step is to get confirmation that the other boat is actually transmitting the data. The snafu could be in Marine Traffic, the various data collection sources that it uses, the FCC in issuing the number, etc.

 

[Fletcher500]

I just pulled in to Dana Point today. I will keep an eye out for him.

 

[KnotYet]

Am I missing something, or is this the biggest coincidence in history that the previous assignee and the current assignee's boats both have the same name? Hard to imagine. Seems like some other SNAFU somewhere.
BD

Rather it probably is reporting DW1979OA's boat as being in Dana Point due to the
same mmsi number being transmitted there.

 

[BandB]

Regardless of the why and wherefore, I would get a new MMSI. The odds of resolving the problem completely in a reasonable period of time are just too low.

When seeing the headline, I had thoughts of thieves using MMSI's to track boats and plan their thefts.

 

[menzies]

When is the last time anyone on here used an MMSI?

Not talking about SAR, just wondering.

 

[LarryM]

When is the last time anyone on here used an MMSI?

Not talking about SAR, just wondering.

Used it on Tuesday actually. It facilitates making AIS calls to ships and towboats in the Houston Ship Channel and Bolivar Roads, which can be quite congested at times. I have an all Garmin touchscreen suite so it is really easy to do. On the chartplotter you select the AIS target you want to call, then select Call with Radio and select Send. This sets up the call in the VHF where you then select Call. Only 4 touches.

I seem get better response with a DSC calls, and there is no ambiguity as to which vessel I am calling, especially in poor visibility. Without that automatic call feature, I probably wouldn't bother, too many keystrokes, too complicated.

 

[BDofMSP]

Rather it probably is reporting DW1979OA's boat as being in Dana Point due to the
same mmsi number being transmitted there.

That's my point. It's not that he used to have that MMSI and It got reassigned to another person who miraculously also had the same vessel name. No if he's transmitting that it's intentional. Either that or he's NOT transmitting that and the websites are making a large technical blunder.

BD

 

[BDofMSP]

On an only vaguely related note, as soon as I installed my AIS I saw it appear on Marine Traffic. It took 5 days before someone had posted a picture (of a sailboat No less) with the name Gopher Broke clearly Photoshopped onto it on the site and claimed it. Entered vessel information and everything.

Site did nothing, and never responded to email complaints. Suddenly about 2 months later they removed their photo and data and added mine. Never communicated with me once.
BD

 

[stubones99]

Are you sure your friend isn't simply looking up the boat name Dream Weaver? Cool name BTW, Gary Wright would approve!
Have you verified that the imposter is using the same MMSI as you?
You could change your config to say "Dream Weaver MMSI 123472" and make your unique again, if that is the case.

 

[TomAnderson20619]

Interestingly, I just purchased an Albin 43 in Maryland. When I went to transfer the MMSI from the PO to me, I found that the MMSI entered in the VHF was actually registered to a tug in Boston harbor!
I ended up getting a new MMSI and resetting the VHF with the new number. I really wonder HOW this is happening (apparently more often than I would have expected).

 

[Robster_in_edmonds]

You probably know that the Internet-based AIS services rely on land-based receivers forwarding AIS information that they receive. That's why when you hit a remote area (too far from any receivers) you drop off. So your pal can either realize you're in a dead spot when he sees the Dana Point boat, or you can go through the hassle of getting a new MMSI number.

BTW it seems like a huge coincidence that the boat re-using your name would also have the same MMSI number. Are you sure that your friend isn't tracking you by boat name, or that his AIS service defaults to boat name and home port when the MMSI number is missing?

 

[DW1979OA]

Thanks for all the input. I’m probably going to just go ahead and get a new MMSI. Less heartburn in the long run. It’s interesting that the other Dream Weaver leaves his AIS on constantly. So when I was transiting Olympia to Tacoma there are AIS blind spots and it would jump to Dana Point

My thoughts are that it was a semi honest mistake made by whoever installed and set up this guy’s equipment and the owner really doesn’t know he has my number My sense of trying to always do the right thing and expecting others to do the same is probably a bit Pollyanna.

Fletcher 500, it would be amazing if you were to actually find a way for me to communicate with the owner. Doesn’t appear that Dream Weaver ever leaves the dock. Be interesting to see what it actually looks like.

 

[Fletcher500]

Fletcher 500, it would be amazing if you were to actually find a way for me to communicate with the owner. Doesn’t appear that Dream Weaver ever leaves the dock. Be interesting to see what it actually looks like.

That was posted tongue in cheek but if you ever figure out where he is (IE, general slip vicinity), I could always drop a note on his boat with your contact info. I pulled out of there a couple days ago and I am back in San Diego but I will be passing through there again at some point in the future.

 

[ghost]

I guess we all have made the assumption that nobody will do anything. Maybe you should actually file a complaint with the FCC and see if they prove us all unwarranted cynics!

Personally, I’d probably file the complaint while simultaneously registering for a new MMSI, because that’s how much I trust others to do the right thing.

 

[High Wire]

The Vessel Finder app shows the Dana Point yacht as a dark blue yacht that looks like a Fleming.