Search for answers, if not found contact us at brmail@itu.int

Cannot find the ship station   Vessel does not appear on your website?, etc.
Data retrieved is incorrect   How can it be corrected?, etc.
How do I register my vessel Please advise how I would add vessels to your web site?
Emergency contact data How can I get access?, etc.
MMSI   Where can I find information concerning the assignment of Maritime Mobile Service Identities" (MMSI)?, etc.
Accounting Authorities Where can I find the complete address of an AAIC?, etc.
Download/purchase data found on MARS   I would like to know if the MARS database is available on cd-rom and if it is, how can I obtain this cd-rom?, etc
Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft
How to assign an MMSI number.
 
Notification of Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft particulars (CM16)
I am responsible for notifying, as requested in your circular letter CM/16, information concerning SAR aircraft. As I am not familiar on how to assign an MMSI number, please let me know where I can find this information?
Please be advised that RECOMMENDATION ITU-R M.585-5 (Assignment and use of maritime mobile service identities) provides guidance to administrations for the assignment and conservation of maritime mobile service identities (MMSI). Formats for ship stations, coast stations, aircraft participating in search and rescue (SAR) operations, aids to navigation, and craft associated with a parent ship are described as well as some limitations which constrain assignments for ships which utilize the satellite services of the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS). Guidance is provided for future mobile satellite systems and the reuse of decommissioned numbers.

Please contact us at brtpr@itu.int for further assistance.

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Miscellaneous
How often is the MARS website updated? I am the owner of a vessel and I work on several other vessels. I came to your website to check the accuracy of our information on. There doesn't seem to be anything newer than 1999?
MARS is updated on a weekly basis, normally every Monday morning. All notifications, sent by an administration, are treated within a week of receipt. Therefore, if a station and/or particular information is not found on this site, the station and/or data has not yet been notified by the responsible administration or is still in the processing stage. Please consult on the following Monday. If the station is still not found, contact your administration and request them to notify the station to the ITU.

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I have a customer vessel  and I need to know what publications are required to be carried onboard to satisfy the requirements of GMDSS.
Please advise if the ITU Radio Regulations is also required. I already have the following list of publications:
1) List of Ship Stations
2) List of Coast Stations
3) Radio Determination
4) List of Call Signs
5) Manual for Use by Maritime Mobile Service and Satellite Service
 
Please be advised that the Radio Regulations is not required to be carried on board ships.
However all the other publications are required.

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I would like to receive the list of country codes to inform our customer how to register their 406MHz EPIRBs. Thank you
Country codes for 406MHz EPIRBs are based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Maritime Identification Digit (MID) country code. These codes  can be found on ITU's Glad website at : http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/go/glad/


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Where can I find the "MID" (Maritime Identification Digits) for a country code?
All data concerning MIDs allocated to a country, call sign series, country codes can be found on ITU's Glad website at : http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/go/glad/

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I notice on the "Ship Particulars" screen codes and abbreviations. Where can I find their definitions? 
Definitions of all codes and abbreviations, shown on the "Ship Particulars" screen, can be found 
at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/mars/help/index.html

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 Why can't I find the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a vessel? 
Please be advised that the ITU ship station database contains only the particulars of ship stations and not information concerning the movement of ships. We therefore are unable to provide you with the ETA of the ship mentioned.

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It would be useful to have a list of coastal station MMSI as well as NBDP service coastal radio stations in Europe. Can I find this information on this website?
For a listing of particulars of all coast stations , you may consult the ITU Service Publication "List of Coast stations and Special Service Stations". 
In order to procure this Service Publication, please contact our sales service. The email address is: sales@itu.int.

On the other hand, if you wish to find information concerning coast stations for a particular country, you can retrieve this data by consulting the coast station search facility provided on this site at:

http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/coast/coast_search.sh

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Data retrieved is incorrect, how can it be corrected?
I notice that there are errors in the recorded details about my ship station. Can I notify you the corrections and if not what should I do?
The ITU is mandated to accept information only from National Telecommunications Administrations. All errors that are observed on this site should be brought to the administration, that has  jurisdiction over the station.

You are therefore requested to contact your administration and request them to transmit the correct data to the ITU. 


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I note that some information associated with my yacht is not included in your register: max number of persons, radar & portable VHF radio. Please can you advise how I can have this information added, as I understand that your records could be consulted to aid a search & rescue operation.
I note that in the ship query section the details that display for my ship Call-Sign are incomplete and actually the ship name is incorrectly spelt.
My boat is listed as \"Wind Song\" instead of the proper title of \"Windsong\". How can I get this cleared up?
I have owned a ship station since November 2003, but the name still shown is of the previous owner. How do I go about getting it changed to my ownership name?
I visited you website to check if my MMSI and EPIRB were listed. I found our vessel and related info, but there was no reference to the EPIRB registration. Is there something I need to do to ensure that our EPIRB is also listed under our vessel?
I have been checking to see if a change to my ship station particulars have been updated. I have registered a new name (and obtained a current license disk). However, the Ship Station Particulars still shows the "old name".
All errors or omissions of data, that are observed on this site, are to be brought to the attention of the responsible Telecommunications administration. 

As all amendments, to the MARS database,  should be transmitted to the ITU through official channels (i.e. the administration having jurisdiction over the station in question), users should contact their respective administrations and request them to notify the correct data to the ITU. 

Upon receipt of the amendments the MARS database will be updated.

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Search, but cannot find the vessel on your website
Can you comment on 1. Why my vessel does not appear on your list and 2. What I must do to correct this?
I tried to search under Vessel Name for a number of vessels, which I know do have EPIRBs. I could not find any EPIRB ID associated with the vessel name. Can you tell me if your database is 1. Current, or 2. Whether there might be a reason that these EPIRB ID numbers do not appear on your database.
I have a vessel that has a MMSI number and Ship Calling number issued by my licensing administration, but  my vessel does not appear on your MARS web site "Search for Ship Particulars"?
I use your site to search for a ship\'s name using its MMSI as sole identifier. I find that quite a few vessels do not appear to have their MMSI number on your data base. Why is it that you have some ships listed but not others?
In 2004 I received a Ship Radio Station certificate which assigned my vessel an MMSI number. In visiting your website I find that my vessel is not listed and that the MMSI number is assigned to another vessel. I thought that MMSI numbers are intended to be unique.
When I use your search engine to locate my MMSI number for my boat, it does not locate my MMSI number???
I recently sold my vessel and purchased a new vessel. I have notified the radio communications people but this has had no effect on my new vessel being registered with the ITU.
I have a vessel that does not have a MMSI number and when I put in the call sign it comes up with another vessel on the your web site. What is your procedure for this. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 
Data concerning all registered ship stations, if they have been notified to the ITU, can be retrieved from the MARS database, . 

In case, based on a search criteria,  a particular ship station is not found, it should be understood that this station has not been notified to the ITU.

In such a case, users should contact their respective administrations and request them to notify the missing information to the ITU. 

Users are reminded that "all omissions should be brought to the attention of the Telecommunication Administration having jurisdiction over the station concerned, so that the appropriate amendments can be transmitted to the ITU through official channels."

As soon as the information is received from this source, MARS will be updated.

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How do I register my vessel
I would like to make sure my vessel is registered with MARS in the International Database but cannot find out how to complete this task.
Please advise how I would add vessels to your web site?
I am part of an organization that supports Pacific Class Patrol Vessels throughout the South West Pacific. We have fitted many of these vessels with GMDSS capable radios, and obviously MMSI identifier numbers. These come from each country, however when I go to the register they do not appear. How or who do I go to to try and ensure the MMSI's are registered. Any help would be appreciated.
As owner of a pleasure yacht I was wondering how to add information to your database when it concerns my ship. Do I simply send the ITU the information or is that the responsibility of the telecommunication bureau? I noticed that another yacht showed much more information. That is what started me thinking.
I am trying to find out how to change the ship\'s name for my MMSI / Call sign. Can you redirect me to the correct place.
Data that figures in the MARS database can only be transmitted to the ITU through official channels, the official channel being the administration having jurisdiction over the station concerned.

Therefore, users should contact their respective administrations and request them to notify the relevant  data to the ITU. Upon receipt of this notification, this database will be updated.


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Download/purchase data found on MARS
I would like to know if the MARS database is available on cd-rom and if it is, how i can obtain this cd-rom?
Is there a way to get the entire database on CD or be downloaded? I am a person who loves to listen to SW radio, and listening to ships at sea, and would love to be able to get a database of the callsigns.
Kindly advise whether the ITU has, issues or sells a database (electronic or otherwise) of CALL SIGNS issued by a state to its vessels?
This site is not available on a CD-Rom. MARS is an online retrieval system that allows users to retrieve information based on a single search criteria.  

There exists a CD-Rom containing all ITU registered ship stations. This CD-Rom forms part of the ITU Service Publication "List of Ship Stations and Maritime Mobile Service Identity Assignments", which is also made up of a booklet. For more details and in order to procure this publication please visit our website http://www.itu.int/pub/R-SP-LM/en


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How do I get access to the emergency contact data
How could we register to obtain Contact Information on ships in your MARS Database.
I am a senior search and rescue officer.  During a response to a DSC Alert to MMSI  I attempted to access the emergency contact for this MMSI. I did not have a user name or password to obtain access. Please a dvise if Rescue Coordination Centres are eligible for this access.
I\'m writing to inquire about getting access to emergency contact information in your on-line MARS ship station database. While looking up a ship\'s call sign in the database, I noted that users can link to emergency contact information, however, that link requires a username and password.
Unable to get through the EMG Contacts in this site.
Information provided in the Emergency Contact field is restricted and access is only granted to Administrations. It is the responsibility of administrations to grant the appropriate access privileges to the Rescue and Coordination Centers and other entities under their jurisdiction.
Users should therefore contact their administration for further clarification.

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Accounting Authority Identification Code (AAIC)
Can you advice me where I can find a complete list over AAIC (Accounting Authorities Identification Codes)?
Could you provide me with a list of all the accounting authorities from AA01 through ZW01?
The complete list of AAICs, recognized by the ITU, is published in the List of Ship Stations and Maritime Mobile Service Identity Assignments (List V). In order to procure this Service Publication, please contact our sales service.

The email address is: sales@itu.int.

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What is an AAIC?
The accounting authority acts as a billing intermediary between the maritime mobile station and service providers.
Accounting authorities came into existence to reduce the number of bills, both issued by Service Providers and received by ship owners and which required extensive administrative effort to progress, e.g. identify calls, convert call charges in various currencies and reconcile charges.

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How do I register as an AAIC?
Please we want to register as an Accounting Authority in our country.
Please what are the requirements needed by a company to be qualified for this.
Thank you for your usual co-operation and looking forward to reading from you soonest.
Contact your Administration, as an accounting authority must be registered with their Administration. For more information concerning Accounting Authorities refer to Annex A of ITU-T Recommendation D.90.

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In the Particulars of Administrations and Geographical screen, I notice under the title AAIC two groups of AAICs. What is the difference between the AAIC(s) a: b: groups ?
1. Group a: - All registered Accounting Authorities recognized by an Administration, which are either based within that Administration's country or in another country to have responsibility for maritime mobile stations which it has licensed.

2. Group b: - All accounting authorities, based within the Administration's, regardless of whether or not the accounting authority concerned is responsible for maritime mobile stations licensed by that Administration.

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My company is an ISP and now has PSA status. We would very much like to apply for accounting authority status Please be kind enough to supply some information/application?
Refer to Annex A of ITU-T Recommendation D.90, which deals with Accounting Authorities.

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I need contact details of all Inmarsat accounting authorities.
Please contact Inmarsat for assistance.

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Where can I find the complete address of an AAIC?
The complete address of an AAIC, recognized by the ITU, is published in the List of Ship Stations and Maritime Mobile Service Identity Assignments (List V). In order to procure this Service Publication, please contact our sales service.

The email address is: sales@itu.int.

You can also find this information on the MARS home page. Choose "Particulars of Accounting Authority Identification Codes (AAICs)".

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MMSI
Could you please provide me with the following information. 
A. A breakdown on the nine didget numbering system used to form an MMSI number. 
b. How is the issuing of these numbers controlled. 
c. What agency is responsible for, and has the authority to, enforce MMSI numbering integrity.
A -  The 9-digit code constituting a ship station identity is formed as follows: M1I2D3X4X5X6X7X8X9, wherein: M1I2D3 represent the maritime identification digits and X is any figure from 0 to 9.

B & C -  When a station in the maritime mobile service or the maritime mobile-satellite service is required to use maritime mobile service identities, the responsible administration shall assign the identity to the station in accordance with the provisions described in Nos. 19.100 to 19.126 of the Radio Regulations; in so doing, it should take into account the relevant ITU-R and ITU-T Recommendations.

 Also consult BR Circular letter CM/04 - "Assignment of Maritime Mobile Service Identities"

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Please provide me information on how to register my MMSI number in the ITU international MARS database.
Please could you give us an MMSI number to program an EPIRB. 
MMSI number request for EPIRB programming
MMSI numbers are assigned to a station by the Telecommunication Administration having jurisdiction over the station concerned and not by the ITU.

Users should therefore contact their respective administrations for more relevant information.

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When a vessel changes name, does the MMSI number change?
If the vessel remains with flag of registration of one administration,  the MMSI number should not change

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