I have used marinetraffic a lot with pretty good success. I actually used it once in a taxi to find my vessel when reporting for the first time. It can be a bit difficult when you have multiple vessels with the same or similar names but it has gotten better about that. I have noticed they have changed some of the vessel designations to make it easier to differentiate. I haven't used the app, only the website so I cant comment on the app.
I'll leave it to the pros for technical advice, but yes, that's my experence with MarineTraffic. When our son's ship crossed the Pacific, there was no change from the time she left Japan until she was off the California coast.When using MarineTraffic, is it unusual for days to go by without any change in position reports? I don't think range should be an issue. Position updates stopped somewhere between Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas. Is the AIS transmission just a convenience, not used for any "required" navigation or reporting?
I'll leave it to the pros for technical advice, but yes, that's my experence with MarineTraffic. When our son's ship crossed the Pacific, there was no change from the time she left Japan until she was off the California coast.