The Ship Report

The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Our ship schedule continues to be robust, so let's take a look.

The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 15, 2026 After months of relatively small ship schedules, this week we're seeing an abundance of ships. Let's take a look!

The Ship Report, Monday, September 14, 2026 As KMUN begins its fall pledge drive tomorrow, a little about how the Ship Report started there, and why I'm so grateful for this community station in Astoria, Oregon.

The Ship Report, Thursday, September 10, 2026 Today we remember a tragic day in US history: September 11, 2001, when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington DC. A third hijacked plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, commandeered by heroic passengers, who took the plan down rather than let it complete its terrible mission, which was to...

The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 9, 2026 The Pacific Collector, a US military missile defense tracking ship, will head outbound from Portland Wednesday around 9 am, passing Astoria around 3. She's one of a pair of ships with a similar mission: to gather data about missile defense testing. She's unusual looking in that she has large radar arrays on deck that look like huge golf balls.

The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Sixteen sailboats left Les Sables D'Olonne, France, over the weekend to compete in a unique race called the Golden Globe. Participants sail solo in boats equipped only with technology available when the race was first run in 1968. That means no GPS, no satellite connectivity, no cell or sat phones. Sextant and compass to navigate, radio for communica...

The Ship Report, Thursday, September 3, 2026 While I've talked about the need to understand and work with current on the river, it seems that some vessels go out there any old time and do well. Let's talk today about why that's the case. It has to do with vessel design, physics, friction and horsepower.

The Ship Report, Wednesday, September 2, 2026 We're having our first fall storm of the season today, and that brings the potential for interruptions to ship traffic as sea heights increase. Even if that's not what happens today, most assuredly sometime soon it will.

The Ship Report, Tuesday, September 1, 2026 It's September 1st, and that means the end of meteorological summer and the beginning of meteorological fall. A slightly different designation than standard fall later in the month, it's used by weather scientists to keep track of weather patterns. And right on time, our weather is obliging with wind and rain, and cooling temperatures.

The Ship Report, Monday, August 31, 2026 Another kind of ship we see fairly often here on the river is the research vessel. It's cargo is live people: scientists whose mission is the study the oceanographic environment. As it turns out, the Columbia River is an ideal option for ships who are in our region of the Pacific and need to make landfall for various routine reasons.

The Ship Report, Thursday, August 27, 2026 We'll talk about a recent blog post from UW meteorologist Cliff Mass, talking about the cooling trend we are entering in our weather, as fall makes its presence known. It will be cool on the coast and cooler inland.  

The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 26, 2026 Today we'll hear the second of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson. Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold great meaning for other vessels that may see them at night. Today we'll also learn about the vi...

The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 25, 2026 Today we'll hear the first of a two-part interview on ship lights from the Ship Report archives, from an interview I did years ago with Columbia River Bar Pilot Captain Robert Johnson. Light colors and placement are not random, and their patterns hold great meaning for other vessels that may see them at night. There are running lights, which give other...

The Ship Report, Monday, August 24, 2026 Today we'll talk about an important term in marine weather: the concept of "significant wave height." Understanding the meaning of this term can give you a more realistic expectation of what the weather may be like at sea when you go out in a vessel.

The Ship Report, Thursday, August 20, 2026 Today we'll talk about the approach of autumn, shorter days and the different kinds of twilight we experience as the sun rises and sets.

The Ship Report: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 Today we'll take a look at the Crystal Symphony, a luxury cruise ship that will be in Astoria on Wednesday. She's just begun a 39 day cruise that started earlier this week in Vancouver, BC, that will take her down the West Coast, to Mexico, through the Panama Canal, visiting various locations in South America and the Caribbean, and eventually to...

The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 18, 2026 Today, a look at who's coming and going on the river, and since we frequently see ships arriving from Vancouver. BC, going to Vancouver, WA, I thought it would be fun to talk about how these namesake cities got their names. Plus, in our weather, "Fogust" returns with foggy conditions, especially on the river.

The Ship Report, Monday, August 1 7, 2026 Today I'd like to answer this question from another angle, after seeing someone post a photo of a calm Columbia River Bar on a recent day, from the perspective of being out there on the water in that area in a small boat. And essentially posing the question: "It looks pretty calm to me...What's the big deal?" So today we'll talk about...

The Ship Report, Thursday, August 13, 2026 Today we'll talk more about how tides change all the time here, and affect us on both the river and ocean beaches. And how this information is practical to know as we go about our daily lives, even if we never go near the water.

The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Today, we take a look at the strain vessels are under in the work they do. And how weather can push things to the breaking point, causing lines and wires to "part" or break, with sometimes catastrophic results.

The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 11, 2026 Today we’ll talk about a useful guideline for navigating in heavily tidal waters like the Columbia. It’s called the Rule of 12ths. The Rule of 12ths divides the tidal cycle into segments, and shows when the most active times are happening. It offers a useful pattern to determine when the falling or rising tide will be exerting its strongest influence in th...

The Ship Report, Monday, August 10, 2026 Today we'll look at today's abundant ship schedule, and also take a look at this week's tides, which feature pretty big tidal swings between high and low tide. This can be an issue for people on the river in boats, as many people are during this month's Buoy 10 salmon fishing season on the Columbia.

The Ship Report, Thursday, August 6, 2026. While ship traffic may seem slow some days on the lower river near the Columbia's mouth, there's plenty happening upriver near busy ports, and inland as far as Idaho. We'll talk about upriver traffic on this busy marine highway, which includes the Snake River and Lewiston, Idaho.

The Ship Report, Wednesday, August 5, 2026 A listener sent me an interesting question this week: asking why pilot transfers happen while ships are moving, because the process seems unsafe. Today I'll talk about why this practice remains the best and safest way to handle that pilot boat maneuver here (and in many places around the world). And yes, it is inherently risky, even with all efforts t...

The Ship Report, Tuesday, August 4, 2026 The National Weather Service warns us this week to expect wildfire smoke on the coast, thanks to a change in wind direction. We'll talk about current air quality readings around the region, and what to expect. Image: A smoky haze hung over Astoria on Monday, as inland wildfire smoke makes its way to the coast. Photo by Joanne Rideout