IMO NUMBER ERRORS

[Robert J Smith]

I think Phil has the solution in the first post, observation.

Regards

Bob

[davidships]

No reply yet from the Techies on whether an algorithm could prevent invalid IMO numbers being added.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php?search_imo=6125398 shows nine photos of ARA LIBERTAD by five different members and in four different categories have the spurious IMO number 6125398.  It isn't an IMO number: the number is invalid and this ship has never had an IMO number.  It's another Miramar ID number.  Could admin remove the number from these photos please?

[davidships]

Thanks Ken - much appreciated (only three left now).
The bizarre thing about this case was that the use of the spurious number here led to it being added to the ship's Wikipedia page, which then got quoted by the press and the Ghana Government to demonstrate that the LIBERTAD was not a naval vessel entitled under international law to immunity from interference, but merely a civilian vessel within the IMO's ambit.  The Argentine Ambassador had to ask IMO for a formal statement that the ship does not have the IMO number 6125398, nor any other.  Today the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered the Ghana Government to release the LIBERTAD from the detention which had been ordered by the Ghana Commercial Court.  I hope that the lawyers won't be sending their bills here!

[Tuomas Romu]

...Wikipedia page...

Another example why, despite all our efforts, Wikipedia should never be quoted for anything official, scientific etc.

[Anton Heuff]

I've been experimenting with Equasis in the past and I'm quite sure that LR/IMO numbers beginning with 55..., 56..., 57..., 58..., 59..., 60..., and 61... have never been assigned. They are invalid. When entering a fake number (or a Miramar ID) in Equasis, the response will be either "No ship has been found with your criteria" or "The Imo Ship number is not valid". "No ship has been found" implies that this particular number has never been assigned, or that the ship no longer exists. "Not valid" means that this particular combination of digits doesn't conform to the systematics of the registration. Also observe that Miramar's tables begin with three columns: ON (official number), LR/IMO and ID. An ID number is of course always given, while with older ships the LR/IMO column is left blank. In all other cases the ID is the same as the LR/IMO number.

Hope this will help to clarify matters.

Regards, Anton

[Tuomas Romu]

Keep in mind that Equasis does not have record on older ships.

[Chris Howell]

David

Your comment on Libertad is valid and this is caused by the fact that Rodger who runs Mirimar uses his own number system for Naval vessels, it is clear on his site these naval numbers are not an IMO number.

As to category this ship is a naval auxiliary first and sailing ship second.

To make things more complicated her own Government recently described her as a frigate when detained in Ghana recently, nevertheless from our point of view an auxiliary with a pennant number.

On a lighter note I have found the easiest way to make an IMO error is to upload while doing something else !!!

Chris

[davidships]

Yes, Chris, the Argentine Government describe her as a "fragata" - but that has two meanings in Spanish - one is indeed the modern warship "frigate"; but it is also the word for a three-masted square-rigged ship - what we would call "ship-rigged".

Here's another IMO nonsense.  About half a dozen members have decided that Sea Shepherd's BRIGITTE BARDOT has an IMO number ("she" doesn't) and it's 1859712.  Goodness knows where that comes from - not sloppy reading of Miramar this time.

[Stunteltje]

It is very well possible that some Wikipedias use wrong IMO numbers. I started the Category Ships by IMO number on Wikimedia Commons. (And Vessels by ENI number too, that is not picked up at Shipspotting.) In the beginning in the header of the category was mentioned the fact that numbers starting with a 5 could come from Miramar, as a lot of ship info could be found there in the days that the use of the site was free.

Please realise that this category only was intended to group pictures of the same ship, with different names. Has no intention to be official at all or has a legal status. Just a tool. Later the text had been edited by more experienced users and unfortunately this remark disappeared.