Short answers, each linking to the page with the full details.

Getting started

Do I need a boat to use AIS Fleet?

No. You can watch vessels without owning a boat. You need an e-mail address to create an account. What AIS Fleet is

Is it free?

Following five vessels is free, on a plan that is not a trial and does not expire. The map, the search, the notices, the photos, the messages and your own AIS receiver work the same on it as on any plan. Paid plans let you follow more vessels, see a longer track history and connect an AI assistant. Plans and billing

Do I need an app?

No. Vessel watching works in a browser on a phone or laptop. The iPhone app, for iOS 17 or later, is on the App Store and can also read a receiver on your Wi-Fi. On Android or iPad, you can use the website; there is no Android app or dedicated iPad layout at present. AIS Fleet on your phone

There is no password. Is that safe?

AIS Fleet uses a short-lived e-mail code instead of a separate password. Protect your mailbox, sign-in codes and signed-in devices. Changing your mailbox password does not end an existing AIS Fleet session; contact us if you suspect unauthorized access. Your account and privacy

My sign-in code has not arrived.

Give it a minute and look in spam. Use the newest e-mail; a code lasts ten minutes and a new one retires the old. If you have asked several times, wait 15 minutes. When something is not working

Watching a vessel

Can the boat tell that I am following her?

A linked AIS Fleet member or Saillogger owner can receive a new-follower notice with your display name, according to their notification settings. They never see your e-mail address. Most vessels have no linked account to notify. Follow your first vessel

Is it fair to follow a vessel?

AIS is a safety broadcast that the vessel transmits openly, and AIS Fleet shows what she broadcasts. How AIS Fleet may be used is set out in the AIS Fleet Terms. Fairness matters too, because a boat is somebody's home as often as she is somebody's workplace. Watching respectfully

Why has a vessel disappeared from the map?

Most often she is out of range: AIS is line-of-sight radio and coverage is thin far offshore. Other reasons are the zoom, a type filter, or her transponder being off. When something is not working

Why is her position hours old?

Because no report from her has arrived since. A boat at anchor with her instruments off, a boat out of range, and a boat with her transponder switched off look identical from here. The last-heard time on her panel is the number to read. Where the positions come from

Can you tell me when she will arrive?

Her panel shows the destination and ETA her crew entered, on the vessels that send them. Both are typed in by hand aboard and can be out of date, and AIS Fleet does not estimate an arrival of its own or keep an arrivals board. You can follow her for detected departure and arrival notices; for schedules, check with the vessel's operator. Departures and arrivals

Does it cover my area?

Coverage varies with receiving stations and the reports available to our network. Explore your area on the map and check vessels' last-heard times. Coverage is often better near busy ports than offshore. If you already have a receiver, sharing its reports can help; you do not need one to use AIS Fleet. Share your AIS receiver

Does my phone buzz when she leaves?

Not for a departure. Departure and arrival pushes are quiet: when Push is available and enabled in the iPhone app, look in Notification Center. New followers and fleet notices are quiet in the same way. Messages, station notices and a boat coming near yours can make a sound, and overnight those are quiet too, by that phone's own clock. If Push is not offered in your app, keep e-mail on for notices while AIS Fleet is closed. Departures and arrivals

I followed a ferry and now I get a dozen e-mails a day.

Turn off her E-mail switch. Her notices stop filling your inbox, she stays where you can still find her, and you still follow her. Choosing what reaches you

Can I post a screenshot of the map?

Before posting, check the AIS Fleet Terms, the map attribution and any third-party rights. Keep the report's age visible, and ask permission before reusing catalog photographs or a boater's shared journal. Sharing a screenshot

If you own a boat

Why is my boat on your map? I did not sign up.

She can appear when a receiver reports her AIS broadcasts to our network, without you signing up. Some Saillogger owners also enable direct position sharing. Members may contribute photographs separately. Your boat on AIS Fleet

Why does my boat have a page anyone can open?

A boat on AIS Fleet may have a public page with her name, details and photos, a map of where she was last heard, and her last port call. Search engines may list it. It does not say who owns her. On request we keep her page out of search engines, and we can take it down for a privacy or safety concern. Her public page

How do I take my boat off AIS Fleet?

For a privacy or safety concern, write to [email protected] with your boat's MMSI so we can review how she appears on AIS Fleet. If her marker here comes from Saillogger rather than from a receiver, the AIS Fleet switch under Settings > Integrations turns that off, and Sharing governs the journal and the rest. AIS Fleet cannot stop your transponder's broadcasts or remove copies held by other services. What you control

Can somebody else claim my boat?

Every claim is checked by a person against a document showing the MMSI is theirs, and an ordinary claim cannot be made for an MMSI belonging to an active Saillogger boat. If you think a claim is wrong, write to [email protected]. Claim your boat

Somebody added my boat to a fleet. How do I leave?

Every fleet e-mail ends with a link that removes her from the fleet in one tap, and the fleet's page has Leave fleet beside the organizer's name. Tick Also block as you leave and that organizer cannot add her again. Fleets

Somebody is watching my boat and I do not like it.

You can remove a follower and block messages. You can also report unwanted attention or a privacy concern to [email protected]; include your boat's MMSI and the activity involved so we can review it. Your account and privacy

Somebody published a photo of my boat.

Members can contribute photographs, and every submission is reviewed before it appears. If a published photo shows something you would rather it did not, write to [email protected] with her MMSI and we will take it down. Vessel photos

Following, lists and fleets

Following, a list and a fleet: what is the difference?

Following a boat puts her on your map and tells you when she moves. A list sorts the boats you follow, and can be shared for other members to subscribe to. Both work one way: she joins nothing. A fleet works in both directions: everyone in it sees the roster and shares one chat, and a boat claimed here is told when she is added and can leave. Lists or a fleet?

Can I start a fleet for my club or rally?

Yes, on a paid plan, and you do not need a boat of your own to run one. Members whose boats are claimed here join the roster and the chat, as far as their own plan keeps fleets active: on the free plan that is one at a time. Run a fleet

What does subscribing to somebody's list do?

It puts that list's boats on your map and, once you turn its notices on, tells you when they move. It does not make you a follower of each boat: their owners are not told and you see only AIS. Subscribe to a list

How do I find lists to subscribe to?

Open the panel of a boat you are interested in, on the website or in the app: On public lists, at the end of her panel, shows the shared lists that hold her. There is no directory of lists, so the other way to find one is a link somebody shares. Lists on boats' pages

Why does a list appear on my boat's public page?

A member, or AIS Fleet itself, put your boat on a list, shared it and left it showing on the pages of its boats. Your boat's page shows the list's name, as its creator wrote it, and some of its boats; nothing from your account appears there. To keep lists off her page once you have claimed your boat, turn off Show lists on the public page at the end of her panel on the website. In the app, the switch at the end of her panel does the same, and its label includes her name. You can also write to [email protected] with her MMSI. To report one list, choose Report a problem with this page on your boat's page and pick the list. Her public page

I subscribed to a list of ten boats and only some appear.

Your plan's follow limit is full. The rest are listed under Beyond your plan, still there, not drawn and not announced, and they are drawn and announced when you make room or move to a higher plan. What your plan counts

The boat in the next berth never announces herself.

Nearby notices are given once per visit, when a boat comes into your chosen distance from outside it. A boat that is already there when you switch the row on, or that never leaves, is not announced; she will be once she has been well outside the distance, away for a while, and comes back. A boat lying still is also not announced when your own boat is the one moving. The list or fleet's notice rows say how many boats are within the distance now. When a boat comes near yours

There is no "comes within" row on my list.

That row is measured from your own boat, so it appears once you have claimed your boat and she has been heard on AIS. Until then the list keeps its departure and arrival row, and Near your boat in Notification settings says what it is waiting for. Claim your boat

Can a fleet tell me when its boats move, or come near me?

Yes. Open the fleet from Fleets on the map: its page has the same notice rows a list has, behind the row at the top of its roster, off until you turn them on, and only you can set them for yourself. The nearby row needs your own boat linked and heard on AIS. Notices from a fleet

Account and billing

How do I cancel?

If you subscribed on the website, under Manage billing on the Plan screen; the plan runs to the end of the period you have paid for. If you subscribed in the iPhone app, in your Apple ID subscription settings, because Apple bills it. Plans and billing

Can I get Plus or Pro without paying?

Yes, for a month at a time. Published photos of three different boats in a month earn Plus for the month after, ten earn Pro, and a station of yours earns them on its uptime, boats a day and range. If you already pay by card for the plan you earn, one renewal is covered, with an earlier payment returned if necessary. How to get Plus or Pro for free

How do I delete my account?

Account in the account menu, then Danger zone. It closes at once and becomes unrecoverable after thirty days. Cancel an App Store subscription yourself first, and note that photographs you contributed stay published. Closing your account

Is AIS Fleet available in my language?

Not at the moment. The site, the app and every e-mail are in English.

Something is broken and none of this covers it.

Write to [email protected], or reply to any AIS Fleet e-mail. Tell us the vessel's MMSI if it is about one boat, which screen you were on, what you expected and what happened. When something is not working