Choose the section that matches what you are seeing. For a missing or stationary vessel, start with when she was last heard on her panel; the position and speed describe that report, not necessarily where she is now.

I cannot sign in

• The code has not arrived. Give it a minute, then look in spam or junk; it comes from [email protected].
• The code says it is not valid. Use the newest e-mail: a code lasts ten minutes, and asking for a new one replaces the old one. After five unsuccessful attempts, request a fresh code.
• You have asked several times and nothing is coming. We stop sending after a few in quick succession, which is what stops somebody filling your inbox by typing your address. Wait 15 minutes and ask once more.
• You closed this account. Its address cannot sign in or sign up again for thirty days after closing. Write to [email protected] within those thirty days and we can restore the account. Closing your account

If a code still does not arrive, write to [email protected] from the address you are trying to use.

I cannot find a vessel

• "No boats match that." The name she broadcasts is often written differently from how you would write it: run together, shortened, or without punctuation. Try a shorter, distinctive part of the name. Searching her nine-digit MMSI gives a definite answer either way.
• The search box will not search. It needs at least three characters.
• "We are not tracking MMSI ... yet." The number is valid and we have never had a report for it. Check the nine digits first, since a wrong digit looks exactly like a vessel nobody has heard. Follow it anyway asks AIS Fleet to watch for her. On the website she is followed once a receiver reports her; in the iPhone app, come back and follow her once she appears.
• A search on a call sign or IMO number came back empty. Both are reported by a minority of vessels. Search her name instead.
• Search says it is paused. A short-term limit on searches has been reached, and it says nothing about the vessel. Wait a moment and try the same words again.
• A vessel's photos say they could not be loaded. After a large number of vessels are opened in a short time, the same kind of short-term limit applies. Wait a while, then tap Retry on her panel.
• She has no AIS transponder. Many small craft do not report to this network. Some Saillogger boats also share positions directly, but search can only return vessels AIS Fleet knows.

I cannot see a vessel on the map

In the order they are likely:

1. Reports may have stopped reaching us. Offshore and sparsely covered coasts often have gaps. A new position appears when another report arrives. Where the positions come from
2. The map is zoomed too far out for a vessel her size to be drawn. At ocean scale only the larger ships appear.
3. Her type is switched off in the Types filter, or Traffic is switched off. Neither can hide her while she is on a list you have switched on, or in a fleet you have switched on.
4. Her list is switched off, or she is beyond your plan on a list you subscribe to: listed under Beyond your plan in that list, not drawn.
5. Her transponder is off, in port or otherwise. Nothing is being broadcast to hear.
6. Your stations have not heard her for a while. The Local AIS layer draws only what they are hearing now, so a boat that left your range drops out of it while she may still be on the chart as ordinary traffic.
7. She has never been heard. We know some vessels by MMSI without ever having had a position for them. There is nothing to draw, so she appears on her list rather than on the chart.

If she is a boat you follow, her row under Lists tells you which of these it is faster than the chart will.

Her position is hours old

That is a different question from a vessel missing from the map, and it usually has a simpler answer: 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 all look the same from here.

The panel says how long ago that report was, and everything on the page describes that report, not necessarily where she is now. Where the positions come from

Her journal or her track has gone

If a journal, logged voyage or owner photograph disappears, the owner may have changed their sharing settings or access password. That change on its own does not indicate anything about the boat's condition. AIS positions can still appear when reports arrive. Boats that log with Saillogger

I am not getting notices

• Check the boat's own row under Boats you follow in Notification settings. A boat's own switches can be off while the row above them is on.
• Check the master row. Followed boats turned off for a column stops that whole column, whatever an individual boat says.
• Check the list's notice switches. Favorites starts with notices on; custom and subscribed lists start with them off. Turning a list on for the map does not turn its notices on.
• Check that you followed her. In the iPhone app, Follow it anyway only asks AIS Fleet to watch for an MMSI. That is not a follow, and it starts no notices.
• Check she is not beyond your plan. Follows past your limit are listed and not announced.
• She may not have moved. A boat at a berth for two weeks generates no notices.
• She may be out of range. A departure worked out from movement needs reports to work from.
• Nothing appears on your phone. If Push is available in the iPhone app's Notification settings, check that it is enabled on this phone and allowed in iOS Settings. Check the type and boat switches too. Departures, arrivals, new followers and fleet notices push quietly and appear in Notification Center; overnight quiet hours silence the rest. If Push is not offered, keep E-mail on for notices while AIS Fleet is closed. Departures and arrivals
• The app says you have reached your push device limit. Turn off Push in AIS Fleet on a device you no longer use, then try enabling it on this phone again. If you no longer have that device, contact support. Your other registered phones can keep receiving notices.

I am getting too many

Turn off the boat's E-mail switch: her notices stop reaching your inbox, and she stays where you can still find her. The ... on a notice about a boat you follow does the same in one tap, by muting the boat. Muting is not unfollowing. Choosing what reaches you

A notice that came through a list you subscribe to has no mute of its own: the list's own switches control it. Lists

A photo will not upload

Vessel photos

My station stays quiet

• The host and port must be entered exactly as shown, and the output must be UDP rather than TCP.
• The receiver has to be hearing traffic. Check that its antenna is connected and that its display or output shows received AIS reports.
• Live with a vessel count of zero means data is arriving but no vessel positions have been counted. If vessels are nearby, check that the feed includes AIS, rather than only GPS sentences.
• On Signal K, the ais-forwarder plugin's two forwarding switches are off until you turn them on, and AIS arriving over NMEA 2000 needs signalk-n2kais-to-nmea0183 with NMEA 0183 Events set to nmea0183,nmea0183out. Signal K
• A phone station pauses when the phone is locked or the app is closed.

Share your AIS receiver

Something says I need a different plan

This comes from your plan's limits, and nothing has been deleted. Follows, lists and fleets past your plan stay listed and go quiet; a track window you do not have says which plan has it. Plans and billing

Something is missing in the app

Adding a receiver that is not your phone, station statistics, and starting or managing a fleet are on the website. Sign in there with the same e-mail address. AIS Fleet on your phone

The page is blank or will not load

Check your internet connection, then reload the page. If it still fails, try a current browser and check whether a content blocker is preventing scripts from loading. The map needs JavaScript; the guide can also be read as plain Markdown. If you use the iPhone app, check the App Store for an update, then close AIS Fleet and open it again. If the problem continues, contact us with your device and browser or app version.

If none of this helps

Write to [email protected], or reply to any AIS Fleet e-mail. Tell us the vessel's MMSI if it is about one particular boat, which screen you were on, what you expected and what happened. That is usually enough for us to see it from here.