Many use Marinetraffic to follow their friends and family that are out sailing, but sometimes they receive the message "Position received by Satellite" eller "Vessel is Out-of-Range".
Data on Marinetraffic is collected by volunteers that have installed an AIS Station. It is therefore random where these stations are located, and the distance between the stations can be quite large in places where there isn’t much ship traffic.
If you have a Sailserver onboard, you also have a mobile AIS station (https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/stations/5871), that covers the entire world, and that can send the boats position to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder. When Sailserver is connected to the Internet it can send your boats position to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder.
In many cases there will be better coverage with a Sailserver, especially in Mediterenean,Caribbean and on Europe Waterways. If you are sailing offshore, only the satellite network will work. The advantage with the Sailserver compared to Marinetraffic, is that you collect the entire track, even if you have no network connection. As soon as you have a connection to a mobile network again, your entire track is visible in the app.
How to send data to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder
Before the Sailserver can send data to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder, it has to be activated for your account. You change the settings by selecting Account under the menu in the upper left corner.
- Open the settings by selecting “Boat”
- Select the “Edit” button on the right side
- Update the MMSI field with the MMSI number for your boat
- Below the form, put a checkmark in the setting “Send position to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder (need MMSI)”.
- Select “Save” to save your changes.
Everytime your Sailserver is logging information, your position will be sent to Marinetraffic and Vesselfinder. If you also use Noforeignland, then you place a checkmark here as well, and when you complete a track, it will also be updated on Noforeignland.
The Sailserver has many other useful functions, among other things it has an Anchor watch that monitors your boat if you go ashore while anchoring. It is also easier and more fun for those at home to follow your travels, with the free Sailserver app.
Just like on Marinetraffic, you can see boats that have chosen to share their data publicly on the Sailserver app https://app.sailserver.com, or you can download our free app for iPhone and Android.
