What is Maritime Mobile Service Identity?

The Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) is a unique contact number for locating and identifying ships digitally. The Maritime Mobile Service Identity acts as a maritime mobile and allows important communication to be passed over the radio without any hindrance.

The Maritime Mobile Service Identity is a nine digit code that is categorised into four individual identity codes. The four maritime mobile codes – ship station identity code, group ship station identity code, coast station identity code and group coast station identity code – help to differentiate telecommunication lines between individual and group ship stations.

Maritime Mobile as a Maritime Mobile Service Identity is used to communicate between radio frequency channels. The nine-digit code has been divided in such a way that there is no confusion about a ship’s identity, information about a ship station and whether a ship is being put to use within a particular region or throughout a nation.

The Maritime Mobile Service Identity is bifurcated in such a way that each starting number in the nine-digit signifies some specific purpose:

If the code starts from 0 then it signifies that communication is for the purpose of identifying individual or group ship or coast stations, as specified above.
The numeral 1 is never used because of use in some other satellite programming which makes it completely out of scope of consideration in the maritime mobile
Numerals starting from 2 until 7 signify specific codes called Maritime Identification Digits (MID). MIDs are basically, geographic areas which help in easy aid for the process of the Maritime Mobile Service Identity.

– The numeral 2 signifies MID as a maritime mobile identity for Europe
-The numeral 3 denotes MID as a maritime mobile identity for the Caribbean, North and Central America
-The number 4 signifies MID as a maritime mobile identity for Asia
-Number 5 is the maritime mobile identity for Oceana
-Number 6 is the maritime mobile service identity for Africa
-Number 7 denotes MID as a maritime mobile service identity for South America

The numeral 8 signifies maritime mobile service identity listed as a maritime mobile for the purposes of regional usage, and
The number 9 denotes maritime mobile service identity categorised for the purpose of national usage

Since all possibilities of confusion and obscurity are thought about and paid attention to, there is no denying that Maritime Mobile Service Identity as a maritime mobile is a very important tool for telecommunications in the shipping sector.

Communication channels in ships in today’s times also require a civilian participation making it convenient and feasible to have a system like the maritime mobile or the Maritime Mobile Service Identity. Through such development process, it has not only become easy to maintain communication on steady and stable ground but also on channels like the oceans and the seas.

Maritime Mobile Service Identity is a tool that is still developing in some ways and promises to be a very important revolution in the field of marine communication in the days to come. Therefore it is important that we pay heed and attention to one of the best up-gradations to technology in the present, so that its value does not get underestimated in the future.

Reference: Tc.gc , Navcen

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