The Ship Report is All Things Maritime!

Ship Report podcasts take you to a special corner of the world: the Mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Nautical lore, news and info, mariner interviews, daily international ship traffic, and the inside scoop on our formidable marine weather. Join maritime journalist Joanne Rideout on the Ship Report, as we explore the fascinating nautical world, on the Upper Left Edge of Oregon and beyond.  The Ship Report is proud to celebrate 16 years on the air!

Astoria shipyard gets federal grant

A local story about an Astoria shipyard at Tongue Point that has received a federal grant for over $500k.
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Sneaker waves and Rogue waves: waves of a feather

The same sort of resonance that makes sneaker waves rise up seemingly out of nowhere, happens on a much larger scale far out at sea, where giant rogue waves swamp ships with recordbreaking wave heights.
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What’s happening with world trade?

A quick look at world shipping: China may be emerging from its coronavirus woes, and the IMO urges ports worldwide to remain open to maintain the flow of goods, and ship traffic. Note: The lovely photo accompanying this post was taken by Astoria photographer Scott...
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Oil glut turns tankers into tanks

Off the west coast of the US, there's an odd sort of ship showing up these days: oil tankers, more than two dozen off California, that have come there not to deliver or pickup up cargo, but to sit at anchor and store it, as petroleum futures hit record lows.
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Whiskey tastes better when it’s gone fishing

A great hometown story about an Astoria fisherman and restaurateur who's partnered with a local whiskey distiller - turns out whiskey aged at sea tastes world's better than the landlocked variety.
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Columbia River Ship Traffic

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Approximate Vessel Travel Times

(Times vary according to tidal conditions, current, weather, and individual vessel horsepower)

  • Portland/Vancouver -Astoria: 6-8 hours
  • Kalama -Astoria: 5 hours
  • Longview -Astoria: 3.5 hours
  • Columbia River Bar – Astoria: 1.5 hours

Water Speed & Currents

Curated Links

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Local
Maritime
NOAA
Photos
Tsunami
Video

Tides

When’s High Tide where you are?  Find Tidal info at www.saltwatertides.com

Tide times are often listed in 24 hour time.  For times after noon, subtract 1200 from the time to get regular clock time. Ex: 1300 hrs – 1200 = 1:00 pm)

MLLW:  Also, tides are referenced to Mean Lower Low Water, a reference point for depth on many nautical charts. MLLW is the average of the lower of the two low tides in a day, over a 19-year cycle. Minus tides are lower than MLLW.

Adjustments: If you’re right on the coast, subtract an hour from these times. Upriver, highs and lows happen later. For instance, in Knappa, add an hour. In Clatskanie, add 2 hours and 15 minutes.

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Ship Report Podcasts

Astoria shipyard gets federal grant

A local story about an Astoria shipyard at Tongue Point that has received a federal grant for over $500k.
Listen

What’s happening with world trade?

A quick look at world shipping: China may be emerging from its coronavirus woes, and the IMO urges ports worldwide to remain open to maintain the flow of goods, and ship traffic. Note: The lovely photo accompanying this post was taken by Astoria photographer Scott...
Listen

Whiskey tastes better when it’s gone fishing

A great hometown story about an Astoria fisherman and restaurateur who's partnered with a local whiskey distiller - turns out whiskey aged at sea tastes world's better than the landlocked variety.
Listen

More on navigating at night on the river

This is a big topic: getting around at night on the river... Today we talk about what buoys do, what their different colors mean and how their lights match their painted colors. It's all very important info for people trying to get around on the river at night.
Listen

On the water at night

As part of our continuing look at the natural world around us, at things you might have more time to notice these days, today we talk about nighttime on the river, which can be a time of great confusion for people in vessels, unless they know what to look for.
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10-Minute Ship Reports: Monday through Thursday, featuring  Daily Ship Traffic, Marine Weather, News and Interviews

Ship Report Minutes:  On Fridays, where we answer listener questions. Short and sweet!

The Ship Report is also broadcast Weekdays at 8:49 am on Coast Community Radio Astoria, Oregon

coastradio.org

Columbia River Bar

Pacific NW Coast Bar Closure Info from NOAA.

Also on Facebook and Twitter(US Coast Guard).

“Pilot transfer” is when a pilot disembarks or boards a ship. Ships generally must by law have a river or bar pilot on board when they are on the Columbia or Willamette Rivers. The bar and river pilots have separate pilotage grounds defined by the Oregon Legislature.

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Fisher Poet’s Gathering CD

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Meet Joanne Rideout

Producer Joanne Rideout is a journalist and photographer who created The Ship Report in 2003. Since then Joanne and has been interviewing, writing and photographing the maritime world and its interesting people as much as she possibly can.

Ship Horn Signals

Commonly Heard off Astoria

One prolonged blast every two minutes or less: vessel operating in fog.

Five consecutive horn blasts: warning signal that means literally “I do not know your intention.” This generally means another vessel is in the way of a ship in the channel, and is being asked to move before they collide.

Three short blasts: Vessel going in reverse

One long blast followed by three short: signal for the change of pilots. Soon after this signal, you’ll see the pilot launch Arrow II head out to a passing ship, to facilitate the transfer of bar and river pilots.