The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:

Polar Star returns from Antarctica

I always like talking about this ship, because of her unique job and the role she plays in keeping people safe in a challenging part of the world. The USCG icebreaker Polar Star is a ship specially designed to handle difficult conditions that would sink most vessels. She's an older ship, but well maintained, and she just returned from a special annual mission in Antarctica.

Archive Podcasts:

Bar Pilot helicopter crews

Dec 11, 2019

They call them “helos” in the maritime industry, short for the helicopters that pilots here rely on to get them safely to and from ships outside the river’s mouth. On the helo is a highly trained military pilot, and an equally skilled winch operator. They are the indispensable crew behind every pilot helicopter boarding and disembarking.

Columbia River Bar Pilot boat crews

Dec 10, 2019

Out on the ocean, out of sight of land, works an intrepid crew of professionals – the bar pilot support personnel who labor on the high speed pilot boats. They take pilots out across the river bar to meet ships and bringing them safely home again after they’ve escorted ships across the bar. These folks are expert foul weather boat handlers and pilots rely on them for their safety and successful completion of their mission as pilots.

Pilot boat Peacock at CRMM in Astoria: what makes her so special?

Dec 09, 2019

The pilot boat Peacock is on display at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon. You can see her decorated with holiday lights when you drive by. Of all the amazing vessels we have here on the lower Columbia, this one stands out as a true game changer. When she came to live on the river, commerce as we know it was transformed. She made it possible for many ships to come into the river in rough weather, because she was such a capable craft.

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