Jun 2, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
Ships are starting to arrive in the river for the Portland Rose Festival; they’re the part of the festival referred to as Fleet Week. I’ll be tracking the ships as they arrive and sharing that information here. Today two ships head upriver: the Canadian Navy ship the HMCS Max Bernays passed Astoria inbound this morning to Portland and will be in Portland by early afternoon, and around 7:30am the USS Chafee leaves the Port of Astoria headed for Portland.
Both ships will be on the Seawall at Tom McCall Park in Portland, open for tours starting later this week. For more info, see https://www.rosefestival.org/events/2026/fleetweek
Also, the USNS Watkins, a Military Sealift Command vehicle carrier, should be at the Port of Astoria this afternoon around 2:30 pm. She left the river yesterday after departing from Vancouver, but will be back today at the port here in town.
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Jun 1, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
This week we’ll begin seeing ships arriving to head to Portland for the Rose Festival as part of the Festival Fleet.
One ship is already in town on Astoria: the USS Chafee, a Navy destroyer, which will head to Portland around midnight tonight. I’ll announce other ships as they appear on the schedule and include them in the ship schedule I publish during the week.
You can tour ships in Portland this weekend. For more info see the Festival Website and click on the Fleet page: rosefestival.org
Photo: Rose Festival Fleet arrivals are greeted by the city’s fireboat.
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May 28, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
We see a lot of the same kinds of ships here, going to a set series of places. Today we’ll talk about different kinds of ships, and ports, and the inland water highway that makes much of our commerce possible.
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May 27, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
Today we’ll take a look at a memorial day commemoration that happened here in Astoria on Monday. This event has, in fact, happened each year, for many years.
Family and friends gather on the banks of the Columbia for the annual Uniontown Association Maritime Memorial Day Ceremony. It happens on Memorial Day each year at 3 pm, rain or shine.
The ceremony takes place at the Maritime Memorial, located on Bay Street, under the Astoria Megler Bridge. I attended this year, and I’ll share some sound from the event, and my impressions of what I saw and heard.
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May 25, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
Today’s report is a short update – since it’s a holiday. But there are a few things I want to let you know about:
- Sneaker wave warning for area beaches
- Rain in the forecast
- And about that mysterious heavy lift ship that was in the Astoria Anchorage on Sunday.
I’m taking a little extra break this week, so the Ship Report will return as usual on Wednesday. See you then!
May 21, 2026 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
We can observe a lot about the ships we see going by, but there’s a lot we can’t tell as well. One of those things is how they do business.
Today we’ll talk about two common maritime cargo industry terms: the concept of a “tramp” ship and a “liner” vessel.
So ships may look the same on the outside, but their business models are very different. One way to tell is to observe them over time.
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