The Most Recent Ship Report Podcast:

A look at today’s ship schedule

It's great to see ships moving on the river again. We'll have some relatively calm weather this week, so we'll take a look at who's on the river today.

Archive Podcasts:

A maritime expert talks about ATBs and ITBs

Jun 27, 2023

Today we begin a series on ATB and ITB tug and barge rigs: articulated and integrated tug and barge units. We see a lot of them on the Columbia, and they kind of look like a ship, but they’re not. Chief Engineer Bill Young will be talking with us about them this week. A look inside the maritime industry with an expert.

Photo credit: Joanne Rideout. ATB Ocean Reliance, a Crowley Maritime-owned vessel.

Kirsten Neuschafer honored for Golden Globe Race victory

Jun 26, 2023

This past weekend in France, a huge crowd gathered on the beach, in the seaside town of Les Sables d’Olonne,  for the awards ceremony honoring the sailors who competed in the 2022 Golden Globe solo round-the-world sailing race. The race began and ended there after sailors circled the planet in small boats. Out of 16 entrants, 3 finished the race.

At the top of the list: Kirsten Neuschafer, the South African contender who became the first woman to complete and win the grueling non-stop race, after 235 days at sea, during which she backtracked for over a day to rescue a fellow competitor whose boat sank.

Photo credit: Image of Kirsten Neuschafer on the awards stage in Les Sables d’Olonne. Photo courtesy PPL Photo Agency, Tim Bishop/GGR/PPL

Note: Many thanks to Don McIntyre, Golden Globe Race founder and chairman, for permission to use GGR awards ceremony audio, and to Lennie Gallant for permission to use his song, “Minnehaha,” in this podcast. 

Maritime resources converge on North Atlantic rescue site

Jun 22, 2023

It’s a longstanding maritime ethic that mariners go all out to help one another when there’s a crisis. There’s one now happening in the North Atlantic, as maritime resources converge on a spot 900 miles off Cape Cod to search for a missing submersible with tourists on board.

Lost submersible accident shows us that rescue may not always be possible

Jun 21, 2023

The eyes of the world are currently on a spot in the vast North Atlantic, where rescuers are searching for a small submersible. It disappeared while carrying tourists who hoped to see the wreck of the Titanic on the ocean floor 2.5 miles down.

The rescue effort shows the limitations and reality of what rescuers can do for us, and what they sometimes can’t. And why we need to do all we can to give our rescuers a leg up in helping us survive a mishap at sea.

Waterspouts sighted off Oregon coast

Jun 20, 2023

It’s deja vu all over again: waterspouts are back off the Oregon Coast. In 2016, a waterspout came ashore and the tornado ripped through Manzanita, causing $1 million in damages, although no one was injured.

These formations are associated with strong thunderstorms and we’ve seen them more often off the coast in recent years.

The best way to handle a waterspout at sea (or on land as a tornado) is to avoid it.

The back eddy: a cool and sometimes useful tidal anomaly on the Columbia

Jun 16, 2023

I happened to be looking out over the Columbia River in Astoria this week and saw an interesting water anomaly that I’d never noticed before. It turned out to be an effect from a tidal eddy, something to watch out for if you’re in a small boat, and another sign of the power of our mighty river and the moon and sun, which conspire together to create our tides.

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