Surpass AIS tracking for your vessels
MERCURY IS AN INDUSTRY INNOVATION SETTING NEW AND IMPROVED STANDARDS FOR PREMIUM LOCATION MONITORING SERVICES
Mercury is a secure system that shows your vessel's position in the MariTrace interface even if AIS is unavailable. Aside from our discreet, compact box, there is no requirement to install additional hardware such as an antenna.
Utilising your vessel’s NMEA system, Mercury relays your existing GPS and AIS data securely to MariTrace or an API via your vessel’s current internet connection.
MERCURY provides assurance to your crew and clients that, alongside conventional systems, you are presenting a superior level of protection for their security.
MARITRACE
Access to the entire MariTrace vessel tracking suite
1 position per minute
Completely independent of AIS
Worldwide Coverage
Works wherever your vessels internet is
Private and Secure
Position data is sent privately to your version of MariTrace
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What is a Mercury box?A Mercury box is a small piece of hardware that connects your vessel's existing GPS to your vessel's existing internet connection to securely send your vessel's positions directly to MariTrace.
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How can I get a Mercury box installed?We can send one directly to your vessel and your engineer should be able to install it. If they have any difficulty then we can offer telephone support. If you would rather have one of our engineers visit the vessel and perform the installation, then this can be arranged.
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How easy are Mercury boxes to install? How disruptive might the installation be?They are very easy to install. As long as you know where your vessel's GPS NMEA connection is, and where the router is, then we're happy. Aside from that, all you need is power. We can power the device from a 12V or 24V connection, or via a standard power socket. So - practically no disruption. In ideal scenarios, the device can be installed in 15-30 mins.
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Is a Mercury box a replacement for AIS?Absolutely not. Mercury is there to enhance your AIS. AIS is mandatory under SOLAS and it should not be switched off or disabled at any time other than for very specific safety and security reasons. However, if your vessel has switched off AIS for those specific reasons, Mercury will still provide live positions of your vessel. Additionally, AIS was never designed for remotely tracking vessels. Therefore it is prone to being unreliable when used that way. Tracking with Mercury is reliable, regardless of what's going on with AIS. Even if AIS is off, has been disconnected, is malfunctioning, is transmitting on the wrong MMSI.....etc. With Mercury, you will still receive your positions.
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How often does a Mercury box send my vessel's position?The default is to send a position once per minute to MariTrace, however we can configure the device to send at any rate up to once per second.
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How does a position get from the Mercury box to MariTrace?We use the vessel's existing internet connectivity to securely send positions to MariTrace. This data is encrypted and cannot be seen by anyone else.
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Does the Mercury Box use NMEA 0183, or NMEA 2000?Either.
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What if my vessel doesn't have a reliable internet connection?We can help you get Starlink installed at no cost to you for the hardware. You just pay for the data you consume.
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Can anyone else see the data coming from the Mercury Box?Absolutely not. The data is sent encrypted to our servers. Thereafter it is visible in the MariTrace interface to you only, or other MariTrace users you choose to share the data with.
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Can I share my vessel's positions coming from the Mercury box with anyone?Absolutely. As long as they have a MariTrace account, you can share you vessel's positions with them, or they with you. You can share with multiple people and have complete control over who sees those positions, and for how long. Typically our users want to share vessel positions with their CSO, security team, insurer, flag state, charterer, owner, or even friends and family.
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What if my vessel's internet connection drops?The boxes are intelligent and know when they're offline. From that moment, they start to cache the positions and when they detect that the internet connection has been resumed, will send any missing data so any gaps are filled in.
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What if I want to access the raw data from the Mercury box.That's not a problem. We have an API available so you can get the data directly and use in your own platform.
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What if I want to track another asset, such as a tender, helicopter, or Jet Ski?As long as that asset has NMEA / GPS, and power, and an internet connection then a standard Mercury box will work. However, even if one of the above is not available, then we can still help. Get in touch and we can explain more.
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How much does it cost for a Mercury box?A Mercury box costs as little as $1 per vessel per day, with no upfront charge. To access our price calculator, please see this link
-
What is a Mercury box?A Mercury box is a small piece of hardware that connects your vessel's existing GPS to your vessel's existing internet connection to securely send your vessel's positions directly to MariTrace.
-
How can I get a Mercury box installed?We can send one directly to your vessel and your engineer should be able to install it. If they have any difficulty then we can offer telephone support. If you would rather have one of our engineers visit the vessel and perform the installation, then this can be arranged.
-
How easy are Mercury boxes to install? How disruptive might the installation be?They are very easy to install. As long as you know where your vessel's GPS NMEA connection is, and where the router is, then we're happy. Aside from that, all you need is power. We can power the device from a 12V or 24V connection, or via a standard power socket. So - practically no disruption. In ideal scenarios, the device can be installed in 15-30 mins.
-
Is a Mercury box a replacement for AIS?Absolutely not. Mercury is there to enhance your AIS. AIS is mandatory under SOLAS and it should not be switched off or disabled at any time other than for very specific safety and security reasons. However, if your vessel has switched off AIS for those specific reasons, Mercury will still provide live positions of your vessel. Additionally, AIS was never designed for remotely tracking vessels. Therefore it is prone to being unreliable when used that way. Tracking with Mercury is reliable, regardless of what's going on with AIS. Even if AIS is off, has been disconnected, is malfunctioning, is transmitting on the wrong MMSI.....etc. With Mercury, you will still receive your positions.
-
How often does a Mercury box send my vessel's position?The default is to send a position once per minute to MariTrace, however we can configure the device to send at any rate up to once per second.
-
How does a position get from the Mercury box to MariTrace?We use the vessel's existing internet connectivity to securely send positions to MariTrace. This data is encrypted and cannot be seen by anyone else.
-
Does the Mercury Box use NMEA 0183, or NMEA 2000?Either.
-
What if my vessel doesn't have a reliable internet connection?We can help you get Starlink installed at no cost to you for the hardware. You just pay for the data you consume.
-
Can anyone else see the data coming from the Mercury Box?Absolutely not. The data is sent encrypted to our servers. Thereafter it is visible in the MariTrace interface to you only, or other MariTrace users you choose to share the data with.
-
Can I share my vessel's positions coming from the Mercury box with anyone?Absolutely. As long as they have a MariTrace account, you can share you vessel's positions with them, or they with you. You can share with multiple people and have complete control over who sees those positions, and for how long. Typically our users want to share vessel positions with their CSO, security team, insurer, flag state, charterer, owner, or even friends and family.
-
What if my vessel's internet connection drops?The boxes are intelligent and know when they're offline. From that moment, they start to cache the positions and when they detect that the internet connection has been resumed, will send any missing data so any gaps are filled in.
-
What if I want to access the raw data from the Mercury box.That's not a problem. We have an API available so you can get the data directly and use in your own platform.
-
What if I want to track another asset, such as a tender, helicopter, or Jet Ski?As long as that asset has NMEA / GPS, and power, and an internet connection then a standard Mercury box will work. However, even if one of the above is not available, then we can still help. Get in touch and we can explain more.
-
How much does it cost for a Mercury box?A Mercury box costs as little as $1 per vessel per day, with no upfront charge. To access our price calculator, please see this link