Passenger ships and ferries on AIS

Which AIS codes count as passenger ships

AIS codes 60 to 69 cover vessels whose business is carrying passengers. The units digit is the usual dangerous-goods qualifier: 60 is a passenger ship with no declaration, 61 to 64 declare hazardous-cargo categories A to D, 69 means "no additional information".

A small harbour ferry and a large cruise ship can both report 60. The dimensions fields separate them. Fast ferries built to the High-Speed Craft Code usually report in the 40s instead, and have their own page here.

How to spot one on the live map

Ferries are the easiest vessels on a live map to recognise: the same short crossing, back and forth, many times a day, on a near-identical track. Because most routes run along coasts and between islands, ferries spend almost their whole working lives in range of shore receivers.

Cruise ships move at night and sit alongside or at anchor off a port during the day. Their long sea passages between regions are where terrestrial coverage runs out.

Open the live map → Positions there are the latest known, with their source and age.

Who has to carry AIS

SOLAS Chapter V, Regulation 19 requires AIS on all passenger ships on international voyages regardless of size, and national rules extend that to many domestic ferries. Passenger ships therefore almost always carry Class A equipment and report a navigational status.

The navigational status to expect

Ship type says what a vessel is; navigational status says what it claims to be doing. These are the statuses that normally go with passenger ships:

• 0 · Under way using engine
• 5 · Moored
• 1 · At anchor

Where the type code misleads

Ferries on short crossings often leave their status at "under way using engine" while alongside, or at "moored" for the first minutes of a crossing. Speed over ground settles the question.

Some fast passenger vessels report in the 60s and some in the 40s. If you are looking for a fast ferry and do not find it here, look under high-speed craft.

Questions

What AIS ship type code is a ferry?

Most ferries report a passenger code from 60 to 69, usually 60 or 69. Fast ferries built to the High-Speed Craft Code often report 40 to 49 instead.

Do all passenger ships have to carry AIS?

All passenger ships on international voyages must, regardless of size, under SOLAS Chapter V, Regulation 19. Domestic passenger vessels are covered by national rules, which in many countries also require AIS above a set size or passenger capacity.

Why do ferries show up so reliably on AIS maps?

They run close to coasts, where shore receivers are, they carry Class A transponders that report every few seconds when moving, and they repeat the same route. A terrestrial network like ours sees them far better than it sees ships on ocean passages.

Further reading

• AIS ship type codes explained
• Why AIS coverage is uneven — and what it means when a ship disappears from the map
• How AIS actually works
• All 100 AIS ship type codes, one page each
• Port activity index