MMSI best practice for handheld VHF DSC radio?

[Flobble]

I'm trying to determine best practice for licensing my handheld VHF DSC radio.

Boat is British (Jersey) registered, operating in the Mediterranean.

I can apply for a MMSI linked to the mother ship, as part of the ship's radio license. This means the handheld can be used only with the mother ship, and not on other vessels. Does this mean I should not use it if I go ashore in the tender?

Or I can apply for a completely separate MMSI and link it to the tender. Are there downsides to this? A linkage to the mothership might be useful in the event we have to take to the liferaft.

[Gudgeon]

I am based in the USA and got a seperate license and MMSI for the handheld. This allowes me to use it on other boats that I may sail on. I do not know if this option is available to you.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Flobble

I'm trying to determine best practice for licensing my handheld VHF DSC radio.

Boat is British (Jersey) registered, operating in the Mediterranean.

I can apply for a MMSI linked to the mother ship, as part of the ship's radio license. This means the handheld can be used only with the mother ship, and not on other vessels. Does this mean I should not use it if I go ashore in the tender?

Or I can apply for a completely separate MMSI and link it to the tender. Are there downsides to this? A linkage to the mothership might be useful in the event we have to take to the liferaft.

AFAIK, using OFCOM, a separate MMSI for the handheld is only needed in UK waters and isn’t associated with any boat, tender, or whatever. So you can still use it on the mothership and the tender and the liferaft, or any other boat, or from shore. Outside UK waters a handheld with its own MMSI or with UK ship station’s MMSI will be treated the same - legally allowed to operate.

Note that its own MMSI means the handheld will have its own call sign. Still legal to use on the mothership but the different call sign could cause confusion. Or, just ignore the different call sign, who’s to know?

[Jammer]

My handheld VHF radios don't have DSC. License wise I can lawfully use them aboard any vessel that is in the water and can use them away from the vessel to communicate with the vessel and to communicate with each other at the water's edge (on a beach, dock, pier, etc). They are considered "associated ship units" under the regulations. But I'm in the USA and I know the situation varies between countries.

With DSC the usual practice in the USA is that DSC handhelds use the same MMSI as the boat they're used on -- just as you would use the same MMSI for each permanently mounted VHF radio if you had more than one aboard. If you use the handheld on the dinghy, well, no one cares, but you can get an MMSI for the dinghy if you want.

People who use DSC handhelds on more than one boat, where the boats may be many miles apart, usually get an MMSI assigned specifically to the handheld, which only recently became possible.

I've come to the conclusion that for DSC, MMSIs don't matter much to the individual recreational boater and are mainly useful to rescue services who are trying to confirm that an emergency no longer exists when a call is initiated unintentionally or when an emergency is resolved without proper notice to the rescue service.

[stevead]

I suggest you peruse the Ofcom web site, in particular the Ship Radio License Terms and Conditions.

Or contact them directly rather than rely on a bunch of armchair lawyers presuming to understand the nuances of the UK legal system based on their knowledge of the US system.

Schedule 2, which applies to handheld portable VHF radios clearly states in paragraph 2. that they may be used on any vessel.

In anycase, I think you're overthinking the problem. Firstly the license only covers the use of the radio in UK waters. Secondly, in all my years in the Med, the greatest risk with a handheld VHF is either dropping it in the drink whilst clambering in the dinghy or looking like a super yacht wanker.

[deblen]

For N.American reference only


https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3136


Personally,if you never use DSC on your portable,what does it matter if you have MMSI in it or not.


However,if you take your portable with your ditch bag,dinghy,other water based use & ,in an emergency,decide to push the red button,as opposed to calling on CH16 or *16 on celphone,I would think it best to be using mother vessel MMSI. Why not? In an emergency,who cares? as long as help is summoned.


After reading of the slowness of built in GPS in handhelds,I would prefer to just call on 16.


I have never had to use the Red button,so I plead guilty to not keeping up with these features. Also,in my area,a local fishing boat or ferry,etc. would be my likely saviour & I know what channels they are on.


Cheers/Len

[Statistical]

The only reason I would get a seperate MMSI for the portable would be if you routinely move between vessels. Like a delivery captain having a MMSI with its own independent number would be ideal. Another example might be you are part of a sailing club which has a dozen small vessels without onboard radios and on any given day you could be on any of them.

If your portable will be used exclusively for the utility of a single vessel (to include dinghy runs back and forth to said vessel) then just use that vessel's MMSI.

[goeasy123]

Originally Posted by deblen

For N.American reference only


https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3136


Personally,if you never use DSC on your portable,what does it matter if you have MMSI in it or not.


However,if you take your portable with your ditch bag,dinghy,other water based use & ,in an emergency,decide to push the red button,as opposed to calling on CH16 or *16 on celphone,I would think it best to be using mother vessel MMSI. Why not? In an emergency,who cares? as long as help is summoned.


After reading of the slowness of built in GPS in handhelds,I would prefer to just call on 16.


I have never had to use the Red button,so I plead guilty to not keeping up with these features. Also,in my area,a local fishing boat or ferry,etc. would be my likely saviour & I know what channels they are on.


Cheers/Len

However, the ICOM IC-94 has DSC to any MMSI station, not just the distress function, in which case it needs its own MMSI number. This is very useful for hailing big ships bearing down on us on a dark and stormy night.


We've been through the same issues as the OP. The advice we got was.... MMSI number seperate from the boat, with the '9' to identify it as 'ships portable'. The Ofcom license is only for the UK. If you're using the device anywhere else (where the MMSI number does not ID you and the radio is not linked to a vessel) the intenational law says you must identify the caller without ambiguity. So we do that in the voice call.

[Flobble]

Decision: opted for a separate MMSI for the handheld, because

1. So I can make DSC calls between mothership & tender, and
2. I want the rescue services to be able to distinguish between handheld and mothership in case of a distress call.

[Plumbean]

Originally Posted by goeasy123

However, the ICOM IC-94 has DSC to any MMSI station, not just the distress function, in which case it needs its own MMSI number. This is very useful for hailing big ships bearing down on us on a dark and stormy night.


We've been through the same issues as the OP. The advice we got was.... MMSI number seperate from the boat, with the '9' to identify it as 'ships portable'. The Ofcom license is only for the UK. If you're using the device anywhere else (where the MMSI number does not ID you and the radio is not linked to a vessel) the intenational law says you must identify the caller without ambiguity. So we do that in the voice call.

In the US at least, a handheld MMSI starts with an 8, not a 9.

[AndyBC]

In Canada, we have an MI number for handhelds (starts with an 8). An MI is tied to an individual, whereas an MMSI is tied to a vessel.

So I have an MI for my handheld and an MMSI for my fixed mount vhf.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by AndyBC

In Canada, we have an MI number for handhelds (starts with an 8). An MI is tied to an individual, whereas an MMSI is tied to a vessel.

So I have an MI for my handheld and an MMSI for my fixed mount vhf.

Thank you! I was not aware of this. / Len


https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/spe...ation-database

[stevead]

According to the ITU standard the following prefixes are defined.
1. For equipment on board craft associated with a parent ship, the MMSI number begins with the prefix 98, followed by the Maritime Identification Digits (MID) and four digits.

2. For handheld VHF radios the MMSI number begins with the prefix 8, followed by the MID and five digits.

However it is up to member states if and how they implement the ITU recommendations.

In the case of the UK and Ofcom, they were late to the party in granting type approval for handheld VHF DSC radios and were not issuing MMSI numbers with the "8" prefix. That explains why one of the UK respondents in this thread mentioned that their handheld MMSI number begins with the "9" prefix. On the other hand, there are countries such as the US and Canada that are issuing MMSI numbers with the "8" prefix for portable VHF DSC radios.

Ultimately one should defer to the licensing authority for their flag state rather than rely on advice from a bunch of armchair experts such as ourselves.

Perhaps of interest to some readers, coast stations use the "00" prefix, SAR aircraft use "111" prefix, AtoN's use "99" prefix, SARTS use "970", MOB devices use "972" and EPIRBS use "974" and who knows what magical MMSI numbers are used by the squillions of AIS fishing net/buoy markers out there!

[Tupaia]

The biggest advantage to having a separate MMSI number for the portable is to be able to make DSC calls between it and the mother ship very convenient.


Also to enable position reporting (anchor watch from on shore) if supported by your equipment.

[Stewie12]

In all my cruising years in and out of the UK,I never even thought of licensing my hand portable. I do not think that anyone else did either.