AIS ship and cargo type · Special activities
AIS ship type 38: Reserved for future use
Ship type 38 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 38 means
The 30s break the family-plus-qualifier pattern. Each code is its own meaning and describes what the vessel does — fishing, towing, dredging, diving, military operations, sailing, pleasure — rather than a hull family with a cargo declaration.
Reading the two digits
- Tens digit 3 → the special activities family, codes 30–39.
- Units digit 8 → in this range the units digit is not a cargo qualifier: 38 as a whole means “Reserved for future use”.
- Therefore: Reserved for future use.
Every code in the 30–39 range
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 30 | Fishing |
| 31 | Towing |
| 32 | Towing, length of the tow exceeds 200 m or breadth exceeds 25 m |
| 33 | Dredging or underwater operations |
| 34 | Diving operations |
| 35 | Military operations |
| 36 | Sailing |
| 37 | Pleasure craft |
| 38 | Reserved for future use |
| 39 | Reserved for future use |
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.