AIS ship and cargo type · Cargo ships
AIS ship type 79: Cargo ship, no additional information
Ship type 79 is the cargo ships family, units digit 9: no additional information. What it means, what it does not, and how many vessels we can hear sending it right now.
What code 79 means
Dry cargo ships of every kind. AIS does not distinguish a container ship from a bulk carrier, a general cargo ship or a car carrier — all of them are 7x. Any site that labels a vessel "container ship" from AIS alone is taking that from another source.
A units digit of 9 means "no additional information": the operator has set the family and explicitly declined to say anything about the cargo. Read it the same as the plain family code.
Reading the two digits
- Tens digit 7 → the cargo ships family, codes 70–79.
- Units digit 9 → no additional information.
- Therefore: Cargo ship, no additional information.
Every code in the 70–79 range
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 70 | Cargo ship |
| 71 | Cargo ship, hazardous category A |
| 72 | Cargo ship, hazardous category B |
| 73 | Cargo ship, hazardous category C |
| 74 | Cargo ship, hazardous category D |
| 75 | Cargo ship, reserved |
| 76 | Cargo ship, reserved |
| 77 | Cargo ship, reserved |
| 78 | Cargo ship, reserved |
| 79 | Cargo ship, no additional information |
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.