AIS stands for Automatic Identification System and allows you to see other boats' positions directly on the chart in the Skippo app. The system works by boats with an AIS transponder regularly transmitting their current position via a digital radio channel. In the Skippo app, you can see boats with AIS enabled and Skippo boats that have chosen to share their position. Note that the AIS & Skippo Boats feature is only available in the app online and not in the planning tool on the web.

By clicking on a boat on the chart, you can see the name, type of vessel, speed, and length. Click on the vessel's name to see additional information. If you want to save the boat to your favorites, click on the star in the upper right corner. The boat will then be saved to your profile and among your filters to make it easier for you to follow the boat.

Follow these steps to see information about other vessels nearby:

1. Go to the "Plan" tab
2. Click on the map settings
3. Under "map layers", turn on "AIS & Skippo Boats"
4. You should now be able to see other vessels on the chart
5. Choose whether you want to see all types of boats or filter by clicking "More".
6. Once you have selected the boats you want to see on the chart, click "Show on map".

Follow these steps to share your position on the chart:

1. Go to the "Plan" tab
2. Click on the map settings
3. Under "Map settings", turn on "Share your position on the map"
4. You are now sharing your position on the chart

Follow these steps to find friends and boats to follow:

By clicking on a boat on the chart and then on the star in the upper right corner, you save a boat to follow in your profile. You can also find boats by searching for them, follow these steps:

1. Go to the "My Skippo" tab
2. Click on the star in the menu
3. Click on the "Find boats to follow" button
4. Search for another user, boat name, MMSI, or Callsign.
5. You can click on the star directly from the search results list to save a boat as a favorite.
6. If you want more information about a boat before saving it as a favorite, click on the boat's name.
7. Finally, click on the star in the upper right corner

When you go back to your profile "My Skippo", you will now have your starred boats in the list. In the "Plan" tab under map settings, you can filter to only see your favorites. Choose to filter by clicking on "More" under "AIS & Skippo Boats". Once you have selected the boats you want to see on the chart, click "Show on map".

Common reasons why AIS boats or Skippo boats do not appear on the chart:

• The Maritime Administration's and other providers' masts sometimes cannot pick up the signal from the boats. This can happen if the boat is far out at sea, has a weak transmitter, or a low antenna.
• A boat can end up in a radio shadow with its AIS, meaning it does not appear on the map.
• In some cases, our providers filter out smaller boats for privacy reasons, which can lead to some boats not appearing.
• If a Skippo user shares their position via the app but is far from the water, the position will not be displayed in the app.
• For the app to share your position even when you are not actively using it, it must be running in the background. This means the app is still working even if you do not see it on the screen. If you completely shut down the app, it cannot continue to share your position.
• Sometimes technical problems may occur, and the boats do not display correctly, so we continuously work to improve the delivery of information about AIS & Skippo boats to ensure the highest possible accuracy.