Pilot Plug

Pilot Plug is a professional maritime navigation data viewer for pilots, captains, ship officers, and marine technicians.

It connects to a vessel’s pilot plug, AIS source, NMEA TCP stream, or compatible GPS/NMEA receiver over Wi-Fi and presents live ship movement information clearly on a mobile device — on the main bridge, on the bridge wing, or anywhere local navigation data is needed for situational awareness.

Why Pilot Plug

On many vessels, full navigation data is available on the main bridge but not always on the bridge wings. During docking and manoeuvring, the operator on the wing may control engines, thrusters, and rudder, but may not have direct access to heading, rate of turn, COG/SOG, or precise position.

Pilot Plug helps bring this data to a mobile device, supporting situational awareness during pilotage, docking, manoeuvring, testing, and training.

Key features

- Live position, COG, SOG, heading, and rate of turn
- Pilot plug, AIS, NMEA TCP, and Wi-Fi GPS/NMEA receiver support
- Special NMEA Mode designed for clean GPS/NMEA monitoring
- FREEZE function for stable position and time snapshots during logbook entries
- Source tagging for AIS, NMEA, and calculated values
- Freshness indicators showing whether data is live, delayed, or stale
- Docking Mode with surge, sway, bow sway, and aft sway readouts
- Docking Prediction Mode / Docking Mode B with motion-based vessel position projection
- KA motion logic developed from KlaipedaTraffic.lt vessel movement work
- Automatic AIS own-ship detection when static AIS data is available
- Manual ship setup for length, breadth, and GPS antenna offsets
- Selectable AIS and NMEA sources for position and heading
- Connection presets for pilot plug devices including Trenz+, Navicom, and KSNTEK
- Manual IP address and port entry for custom TCP data sources
- Smoothing and spike filtering for stable docking values
- Built-in user manual and safety information

Wi-Fi GPS and NMEA Mode

Pilot Plug is not limited to ship pilot plug equipment. It can also be used with compatible GPS receivers and marine devices that output standard NMEA data over Wi-Fi/TCP.

The dedicated NMEA Mode provides a clean display of position, COG, SOG, and time. It is useful with external GPS receivers, portable NMEA transmitters, test systems, and local marine data setups.

The FREEZE function allows the user to hold a stable snapshot of position and time. This is useful when a vessel position or exact time must be written into the ship’s logbook without trying to read constantly changing values.

Connection

Pilot Plug works with pilot plug, AIS, and NMEA Wi-Fi devices that expose an NMEA or AIS TCP feed.

Many pilot plug Wi-Fi networks have no internet access. Android may ask whether to stay connected to a network without internet. Always select “Keep connection” or similar when prompted, otherwise Android may switch to mobile data and the app may lose the local pilot plug connection.

Privacy and data

Pilot Plug processes navigation data locally on your device.

It does not collect, store, sell, or transmit personal data to the developer. It does not require an account, internet connection, advertising services, or third-party cloud services. Data remains on the local pilot plug, AIS, or NMEA network.

One-time purchase. No ads. No subscriptions.

Professional use notice

Pilot Plug is an assistive monitoring tool intended for situational awareness, testing, training, and reference only.

It is not approved as a primary navigation system.

Do not use this app as the sole source for navigation, collision avoidance, docking, pilotage, or any safety-critical decision. Always rely on official ship instruments, approved navigational equipment, radar, ECDIS, visual lookout, bridge team procedures, and professional judgement. Cross-check all values against certified bridge equipment.