MMSI identity format
Handheld VHF MMSI (8MIDxxxxx)
An MMSI in the form 8MIDxxxxx identifies a handheld vhf with dsc and gnss. How to recognise it, where its country digits sit, and why reading the first three digits as a flag would be wrong.
What it identifies
An 8 prefix identifies a handheld VHF radio with digital selective calling (DSC) and a GNSS receiver: a radio carried by a person rather than fitted to a hull, which can send a DSC distress alert with a position.
How to read it
The identity belongs to the radio and its owner, not a vessel. Ship-station MIDs never start with 8, which is what keeps the two formats apart.
Does it give a flag?
Not a ship’s flag — the MID in digits 2 to 4 identifies the administration that assigned the number.
Every vessel page on this site works this out before printing a flag. Where the MMSI is not a ship station, the page names the kind of station instead — a wrong flag is worse than an honest “this is a coast station”.
All MMSI formats
| Pattern | Station |
|---|---|
| MIDxxxxxx | Ship station |
| 00MIDxxxx | Coast station |
| 0MIDxxxxx | Group of ships |
| 111MIDxxx | SAR aircraft |
| 99MIDxxxx | Aid to navigation |
| 98MIDxxxx | Craft associated with a parent ship |
| 970xxyyyy | AIS-SART (search and rescue transmitter) |
| 972xxyyyy | Man-overboard device |
| 974xxyyyy | EPIRB with AIS |
| 8MIDxxxxx | Handheld VHF with DSC and GNSS |
Have a number to check? The MMSI decoder applies these rules to any nine digits. For the background, read Reading an MMSI.