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 20 years on the air!

Port of Woodland to add marine terminal on the Columbia River

Continuing our discussion about changes in ports and cargo service on the Columbia, today we'll talk about the decision by the Port of Woodland to buiild a marine terminal and being serving cargo ships for the first time. The port has a partnership with a cement...
More

Could Astoria take over container service here on the Columbia? Unlikely.

Today we'll talk about a listener comment regarding the Port of Portland's decision to suspend container service this fall out of its Terminal 6 facilities. A person suggested that containers be shipped out of Astoria instead. We'll talk about why that is highly...
More

Port of Portland announces end of containership service to Terminal 6

The big maritime news locally this week is the announcement by the Port of Portland that they will end container ship service to the Port's Terminal 6 as of October 1. The decision will mean the Columbia River will no longer have container service, since Portland is...
More

The expensive law of “general average” and how it applies to cargo ship disasters

There's an ancient tenet of maritime law that is cropping up in reports about the catastrophe in Baltimore harbor with the containership Dali. It's called "general average," and it has to do with who pays when a ship runs into expensive trouble during a voyage. This...
More

The close of our series on USCG rescue swimmers

This week we've heard a series from the Ship Report archives on USCG rescue swimmers. Today ends that series.
More

Columbia River Ship Traffic

GO
Approximate Vessel Travel Times
  • Portland/Vancouver -Astoria: 6-8 hours
  • Kalama -Astoria: 5 hours
  • Longview -Astoria: 3.5 hours
  • Columbia River Bar – Astoria: 1.5 hours
Times vary according to tidal conditions, current, weather, and individual vessel horsepower.
Water Speed & Currents

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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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Port of Woodland to add marine terminal on the Columbia River

Continuing our discussion about changes in ports and cargo service on the Columbia, today we'll talk about the decision by the Port of Woodland to buiild a marine terminal and being serving cargo ships for the first time. The port has a partnership with a cement...
Listen

Could Astoria take over container service here on the Columbia? Unlikely.

Today we'll talk about a listener comment regarding the Port of Portland's decision to suspend container service this fall out of its Terminal 6 facilities. A person suggested that containers be shipped out of Astoria instead. We'll talk about why that is highly...
Listen

Port of Portland announces end of containership service to Terminal 6

The big maritime news locally this week is the announcement by the Port of Portland that they will end container ship service to the Port's Terminal 6 as of October 1. The decision will mean the Columbia River will no longer have container service, since Portland is...
Listen

The expensive law of “general average” and how it applies to cargo ship disasters

There's an ancient tenet of maritime law that is cropping up in reports about the catastrophe in Baltimore harbor with the containership Dali. It's called "general average," and it has to do with who pays when a ship runs into expensive trouble during a voyage. This...
Listen

The close of our series on USCG rescue swimmers

This week we've heard a series from the Ship Report archives on USCG rescue swimmers. Today ends that series.
Listen

The Ship Report, the show about All Things Maritime, features maritime news and information, local and international, based in the Pacific Northwest in Astoria, Oregon. shipreport.net. Podcasts available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts

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

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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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.