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!

More weather coming our way, and a look at next week’s shows

A  look at the next round of weather coming our way. And a preview of next week: an archive interview about the local Dungeness crab industry, while I take a much needed break for the holidays.
More

A look at weather data from Tuesday and Wednesday, and the “Sailors Empathy Kit”

Today we'll look at data from Tuesday night's storm, which left much of our coastal area without power on Wednesday. We'll also take a look at a new set of small experiments I am compiling to help land dwellers understand what it's like to be a mariner on a vessel at...
More

A look at common heavy weather terms to describe intensity as more storms come our way

The National Weather Service says we'll be looking at 20 foot seas and 60 mph winds offhore by the end of the week. Ships are already waiting out in the ocean. Another wintry week on the lower Columbia.
More

A look at who’s on the river, amid worsening weather

We have another round of winter weather coming in with high seas and winds, meanwhile ships that were stuck in port or out at sea over the weekend, during our previous storm, are hoping to move on before the next one hits.
More

The river at night

Today, as we continue through the season of short days and lots of darkness, we'll talk about getting around on the river at night.
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

Curated Links

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Maritime
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Tsunami
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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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Ship Report Podcasts

More weather coming our way, and a look at next week’s shows

A  look at the next round of weather coming our way. And a preview of next week: an archive interview about the local Dungeness crab industry, while I take a much needed break for the holidays.
Listen

A look at weather data from Tuesday and Wednesday, and the “Sailors Empathy Kit”

Today we'll look at data from Tuesday night's storm, which left much of our coastal area without power on Wednesday. We'll also take a look at a new set of small experiments I am compiling to help land dwellers understand what it's like to be a mariner on a vessel at...
Listen

A look at common heavy weather terms to describe intensity as more storms come our way

The National Weather Service says we'll be looking at 20 foot seas and 60 mph winds offhore by the end of the week. Ships are already waiting out in the ocean. Another wintry week on the lower Columbia.
Listen

A look at who’s on the river, amid worsening weather

We have another round of winter weather coming in with high seas and winds, meanwhile ships that were stuck in port or out at sea over the weekend, during our previous storm, are hoping to move on before the next one hits.
Listen

The river at night

Today, as we continue through the season of short days and lots of darkness, we'll talk about getting around on the river at night.
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.