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!

Remembering the Great Coastal Gale of 2007

Seventeen years ago this month, a series of storms later called the "Great Coastal Gale of 2007," hit PNW coastal communities hard, causing serious flooding inland too. Here on the coast, residents were reeling, left without power and cell service for days. We'll...
More

Tragedy in Alaska, as a fishing boat is lost

The Alaska commercial fishing community is grieving today with the loss of the 50-foot fishing boat, the Wind Walker, out of Sitka, which capsized in stormy seas a little after midnight early Monday morning southwest of Juneau. Despite an extensive search with many...
More

A look at who’s on the river today

An overveiw and a detailed look at ship traffic on the river today.
More

Holiday weekend weather outlook is one to savor

As we head on into the holiday weekend, the forecast is looking amazingly dry and sunny for the next few days. Savor the moment, as rain will return next week, and our winter weather promises to be on target for a normal weather year: and that means, wind rain and...
More

Holidays at sea

On this Thanksgiving Eve, let's take a moment to send our best wishes to all the sailors on board the many ships that ply our waters. They're far from home, missing loved ones, and the holidays make it all the more poignant. We'll talk about holidays on board merchant...
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
NOAA
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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

Remembering the Great Coastal Gale of 2007

Seventeen years ago this month, a series of storms later called the "Great Coastal Gale of 2007," hit PNW coastal communities hard, causing serious flooding inland too. Here on the coast, residents were reeling, left without power and cell service for days. We'll...
Listen

Tragedy in Alaska, as a fishing boat is lost

The Alaska commercial fishing community is grieving today with the loss of the 50-foot fishing boat, the Wind Walker, out of Sitka, which capsized in stormy seas a little after midnight early Monday morning southwest of Juneau. Despite an extensive search with many...
Listen

A look at who’s on the river today

An overveiw and a detailed look at ship traffic on the river today.
Listen

Holiday weekend weather outlook is one to savor

As we head on into the holiday weekend, the forecast is looking amazingly dry and sunny for the next few days. Savor the moment, as rain will return next week, and our winter weather promises to be on target for a normal weather year: and that means, wind rain and...
Listen

Holidays at sea

On this Thanksgiving Eve, let's take a moment to send our best wishes to all the sailors on board the many ships that ply our waters. They're far from home, missing loved ones, and the holidays make it all the more poignant. We'll talk about holidays on board merchant...
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.