MMSI Question

[Ken W]

Proud new (to me) owner here. The boat came with a Garmin radio with an MMSI acquired through Boat US, and therefore, not “authorized” for international travel. Does that mean I’ll have to get an new MMSI directly from FCC and have the radio factory reprogrammed before traveling to Canada?

 

[Cutwater28GG]

you will need a new MMSI for international waters.

but...

all radios can only be programmed once. so if its already been set the radio needs to be reset by a garmin dealer before you can enter a new MMSI.

 

[oberrys]

Luckily for me the previous owner of my boat did not program an MMSI Number into the VHF radio. I’m in the process of getting an MMSI Number from the FCC and am finding their system convuluted and confusing. I came across this blog explaining the process complete with screenshots. It’s quite old but most screenshots are still accurate.
https://norsea27-rhapsody.blogspot.com/ ... m-fcc.html

 

[Todd]

You can use the boat and radio in Canada but they will not have access to the boat information in an emergency.

 

[Ken W]

Thanks to all. Got a new license/mmsi. Now to find a Garmin boffin.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

S3 maritime in seattle can do the reprogramming if you need it. 1 hour labor. so about $100.

 

[baz]

S3 maritime in seattle can do the reprogramming if you need it. 1 hour labor. so about $100.

I will vouch for S3 Maritime as they did a really good job for me updating my RayMarine software for my R-21 EC's RayMarine SmartPilot SPX5-R auto pilot that I managed to buy on eBay even though it was 2 yrs old but brand new in its original box.