AIS ship and cargo type · Reserved for future use
AIS ship type 19: Reserved for future use
Ship type 19 is reserved by the AIS standard and has no assigned meaning. Here is what it tells you when a vessel sends it anyway.
What code 19 means
Codes 1 to 19 have no assigned meaning in the standard. They are held back for future use, so no correctly configured transponder should send one.
Reading the two digits
Below 20 the two-digit structure does not apply: the whole range 1 to 19 is held back by the standard. A transponder sending 19 is misconfigured or using a non-standard value, and anything the number seems to say about the vessel is guesswork. We file these vessels under Unknown rather than invent a type.
The ranges that do mean something
| Codes | Family |
|---|---|
| 20–29 | Wing-in-ground (WIG) craft |
| 30–39 | Special activities |
| 40–49 | High-speed craft (HSC) |
| 50–59 | Special craft |
| 60–69 | Passenger ships |
| 70–79 | Cargo ships |
| 80–89 | Tankers |
| 90–99 | Other type |
What the code is not
The ship-and-cargo type is typed into the transponder by whoever installs or operates it. No authority checks it against the ship’s certificates, and it is broadcast in the static report every six minutes whether or not it is right. It describes what the operator says the vessel is, not what it is doing — that is the job of the navigational status.
For the whole decade structure in one read, see AIS ship type codes explained.