Statutory guidance

Device requirements

Updated 1 January 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vessel-monitoring-system-devices/device-requirements

Your device must be capable of automatically transmitting the:

  • fishing vessel identification
  • speed and course of the fishing vessel
  • most recent geographical position of the vessel – with a position error of less than 500 metres with a 99% confidence interval
  • date and time (UTC) of the vessel’s position

The device must transmit the geographical position at least:

  • once an hour in Norwegian, Greenland, Faroe Islands, NEAFC and NAFO waters.
  • once every 2 hours (but can be up to every hour) in other waters

You may switch your device off in port if you have notified the suitable Fisheries Monitoring Centre and the next report shows the fishing vessel has not changed position compared to its previous report. This does not apply in Norwegian ports where you must continue to provide position reports.

The device transmits different types of messages described below:

Reporting of new Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) device

This note describes the various reports sent by the new VMS device.

There are 5 categories of report and 13 types of report.

  1. BT Standard Diagnostic
  2. BT System Diagnostic
  3. BT Ascii
  4. BT Geofence
  5. BT Hello

The categories and the types of report (13 of them) within those categories are explained below.

Standard Diagnostic

The device sends a report when the thresholds (1) for voltage or temperature are exceeded.

System Diagnostic

The device sends a report when the satellite signal (GPS) is lost (2).

It also sends a report when the mobile phone coverage is lost (3).

It sends a report when the Iridium signal is lost (4).

BT Ascii

When the In Port button is switched on (5) a report is sent. (When in port is on then a daily report – see below – is sent via mobile phone coverage once a day).

When the In Port button is switched off (6) a report is sent (and transmission of 2 hourly reports – see below – is resumed.

In circumstances when the In Port button is switched on and the vessel moves more than 500m (7) a report is sent. The report (known as automatic exit from standby mode) tells you that the transmission of 2 hourly reports – see below – is resumed.

A daily report (known as Brute Force Reset) tells you that the device has been synchronised (8) with the AST server. This happens each day whether in port or not.

The device sends a report when the battery is low (9), i.e. when external power is lost and the battery is not charging.

BT Geofence

The device sends a position report (10) every 2 hours (and every one hour in Norwegian, NAFO or NEAFC waters.)

The device sends a report when a vessel enters(11) Norwegian, NAFO or NEAFC waters. And another report when a vessel leaves (12) such waters.

BT Hello

The device sends a reconnecting (13) report after the battery has run out of power and is restarting.

This information is summarised in the table beneath but note that the terminology in the narrative above has been simplified to make it easier to understand.

Report Report Type Description
BTStandardDiagnostic N/A This report is sent when either the external supply voltage or temperature exceeds the threshold.
BTSystemDiagnostic NoGPSSignal This report is sent when VMS+ detects a loss in GPS signal.
BTSystemDiagnostic NoGSMSignal This report is sent when VMS+ detects a loss in GSM signal.
BTSystemDiagnostic NoIridiumSignal This report is sent when VMS+ detects a loss in Iridium signal.
BTAscii Vessel IN PORT If the skipper activates IN PORT button, regular transmission of mandatory reports will be reduced to a Brute Force Reset report sent via GSM daily.
BTAscii Vessel LEAVING PORT If the skipper deactivated IN PORT button, regular transmission of EU mandatory reports will resume.
BTAscii Automatic Exit From Standby Mode If VMS+ detected the vessel has moved out of 500m range, “Automatic Exit From Standby Mode” is sent and regular transmission of EU mandatory reports will resume.
BTAscii Brute Force Reset Daily synchronisation report with AST’s TDS3 server sent via GSM. This is to ensure that VMS+ is reporting correctly.
BTAscii Battery Low Battery Low report is sent when there is a loss in external power and the battery is not charging for a period of time.
BTGeoGeofence Navigation * EU mandatory reports triggered according to requirement of Geofence which is 2 hours. Geofence in Norway, NAFO and NEAFC require VMS+ to transmit every hour.

* A report will also be sent when the VMS+ is powered up or powered down.
BTGeoGeofence Enter This report is sent when the vessel enters Norway, NAFO and NEAFC.
BTGeoGeofence Exit This report is sent when the vessel exits Norway, NAFO and NEAFC.
BTHello N/A This report is sent when the battery has run out of power, and then reconnected with the power source.
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