AIS navigational status
AIS navigational status 6: Aground
The hull is on the bottom. What status 6 means, what speed and track should go with it, and how often it is simply wrong.
What status 6 means
The vessel is aground. Genuine groundings are incidents; ships that ground deliberately — on a beach to load or in tidal harbours that dry out — may also set it.
What should go with it
Zero, with a fixed heading.
Navigational status is entered by hand on the bridge; speed, course and position come from a satellite receiver. Read the status as testimony and the rest as measurement. Where they agree you have learned something. Where they disagree, the measurement is usually right.
How it goes wrong
Rare, and rarely mis-set, which is why it is worth noticing. Still a self-report: never treat a single AIS status as confirmation that a ship is in distress.
The matching lights and shapes
The AIS status mirrors a state defined in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), which also say what the vessel should display:
Rule 30(d) — three balls in a vertical line by day; anchor lights plus two all-round red lights at night.
Summary for orientation only. The COLREGs text is the authority; this site is not a navigation reference.
All sixteen codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Under way using engine |
| 1 | At anchor |
| 2 | Not under command |
| 3 | Restricted manoeuvrability |
| 4 | Constrained by her draught |
| 5 | Moored |
| 6 | Aground |
| 7 | Engaged in fishing |
| 8 | Under way sailing |
| 9 | Reserved for future amendment (HSC) |
| 10 | Reserved for future amendment (WIG) |
| 11 | Power-driven vessel towing astern |
| 12 | Power-driven vessel pushing ahead or towing alongside |
| 13 | Reserved for future use |
| 14 | AIS-SART, MOB-AIS or EPIRB-AIS active |
| 15 | Undefined (default) |
For the field as a whole — and how this site handles it — read AIS navigational status codes, all sixteen.