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!

How many ships will be off Astoria on NY’s Eve? And, a look at the Dungness crab fishery

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and we'll hopefully hear some ship horns off the Astoria waterfront. Today, we'll also take a look at the Dungeness Crab Fishery, which kicked off in the local area this past weekend.

End of the year stuff: New Year’s Eve ship horns, and – the Ship Report is now on Substack

I'm gearing up once more to record ship horns on the Astoria waterfront again this year, when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve - an annual tradition I happily seek out. I'll share the recording with you on January 5th, when the Ship Report returns for the...

A new storm looms for the coast, and – Santa is saved by the US Coast Guard

Well, weather watchers are tracking an approaching storm that might (or might not) bring damaging winds to our area. We'll see how that shakes out. And today we'll hear a Ship Report holiday tradition: "Coastal Christmas," a retelling of the story of The Night Before...

‘T is the season, for Dungness crab, that is

Today we'll talk about the opening at the end of this month of the 2025-26 Dungeness crab fishery in our local area. And hear an excerpt from a 2016 interview I did with a commercial crabber. His name is John Corbin, and he'll tell us a bit about the process of...

More weather as our next atmospheric river arrives today

The fire hose of rain is aimed south of us in Clatsop County this time, but meteorologists predict we are looking at about and inch and half  in Astoria, and 3 inches or more Tillamook and points south. The big deal right now is a matter of time, rain and its long...

Columbia River Ship Traffic

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

Curated Links

Arts
Tsunami
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.

The Ship Report
Ship Report Podcasts

How many ships will be off Astoria on NY’s Eve? And, a look at the Dungness crab fishery

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and we'll hopefully hear some ship horns off the Astoria waterfront. Today, we'll also take a look at the Dungeness Crab Fishery, which kicked off in the local area this past weekend.

End of the year stuff: New Year’s Eve ship horns, and – the Ship Report is now on Substack

I'm gearing up once more to record ship horns on the Astoria waterfront again this year, when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve - an annual tradition I happily seek out. I'll share the recording with you on January 5th, when the Ship Report returns for the...

A new storm looms for the coast, and – Santa is saved by the US Coast Guard

Well, weather watchers are tracking an approaching storm that might (or might not) bring damaging winds to our area. We'll see how that shakes out. And today we'll hear a Ship Report holiday tradition: "Coastal Christmas," a retelling of the story of The Night Before...

‘T is the season, for Dungness crab, that is

Today we'll talk about the opening at the end of this month of the 2025-26 Dungeness crab fishery in our local area. And hear an excerpt from a 2016 interview I did with a commercial crabber. His name is John Corbin, and he'll tell us a bit about the process of...

More weather as our next atmospheric river arrives today

The fire hose of rain is aimed south of us in Clatsop County this time, but meteorologists predict we are looking at about and inch and half  in Astoria, and 3 inches or more Tillamook and points south. The big deal right now is a matter of time, rain and its long...

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
“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.