The Ship Report

The USS Plainview, a relic of lower Columbia history, beached in the shallows of Hungry Harbor Today we take a look at the USS Plainview, a once-innovative, prototype hydrofoil ship design that was decommissioned by the Navy in the 1960s. She ended up sidelined by her civilian owner after plans to make her into a seafood processing vessel didn't pan out. She remains, partially dismantled, on t...

We've got some weather comin' in A look at this week's weather, which seems poised to take things up a notch in terms of stormy conditions. We've got an atmospheric river event coming out way. We'll see how it shakes out.

A look at Alaska's recent coastal weather disaster Last weekend a typhoon his western Alaska north of the Aleutians, with devastating consequences for coastal communities there. A reminder to all of us who live on the edge of the world, that most of our weather comes to us from the ocean.

A look at the ship schedule, the weather and the origin of the term "ides" on this, the Ides of October In the ancient Roman calendar, the Ides of March marked the 15th of that month, and a fateful day in history for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. In Shakespeare's play, named for him, the story recounts a historical fact: that Caesar was assassinated on March 15 (the Ides of March) in...

Interesting ships on the river Tuesday While all ships are inherently interesting, we have a few unusual ones passing by on Tuesday. One will visit the Port of Astoria. We'll see a new Military Sealift Command replenishment oiler headed to the Portland shipyard, a containership (we don't see them as often as we used to) headed to the Port of Portland, and a blue water cruise ship stopping...

A look at transit times - how long takes to get from one place to another by ship Today we'll look at transit times, how long it takes a ship to go from one place to another at sea, and here on the river.

The pilot boat Peacock, now a museum exhibit, was a real game changer for Columbia River commerce This week marks 15 years since the pilot boat Peacock was lifted out of the Columbia River and placed on land, on the campus of the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, where she welcomes people traveling past the museum on Marine Drive. She's now a retired icon of Columbia River shipping, b...

A look at who's on the river today We've got an abundant ship schedule today, so let's see who's on the river today, moving cargo or waiting their turn.

Listener question about marine pilots and how they board ships I got an interesting listener question, about the way that marine pilot's board a ship using a pilot ladder. The answer illustrates how dangerous the job is, and how much pilots must rely on their own expertise and judgement, moment to moment, to safely do their jobs.

A blue water cruise ship heads downriver after a stint in Portland Today we'll talk about an interesting and unusual sight that happened on Sunday on the river: a big bluewater cruise ship was heading downriver and out to sea from Portland. We'll talk about why she was all the way upriver in Portland, since such ships generally stop in Astoria and go no further upriver except perhaps to an...

A look at our eccentric regional weather Today we'll take a look at this week's storm, which brought stormy conditions some places around the region, but missed others.

Update on the weather Well, in typical Mother Nature fashion, she's doing what she likes, and our predicted storm is a bit late. But arrive it will, and will likely make things messy for vessels out in it, and delay departures for ships that are in port here. We'll talk today about what to expect, with the usual caveat, "subject to change."

Weather comin' in, as we bid farewell to September We have some of our usual, messy fall weather coming in today, and I thought it would be a good time to review some of the weather jargon we start to see in our forecasts at this time of year, and what those words and numbers mean. We'll talk about ships on the bar in bad weather, and also what's happening with other river bars along o...

Big changes to the Ship Report this week Big changes happening as of this week, with regard to the show. Beginning this week, the Ship Report will no longer air on KMUN on Fridays, but will air Monday-Thursday instead, and as a podcast on my website at shipreport.net. KMUN will air the Ship Report twice a day on the radio, at 8:49 am and again at 5:49 pm, Monday through Thursday. The changes come...

The Polar Star is home from Antarctica, a sign of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in Antarctica We see many signs of fall in the Pacific Northwest, as cruise ships head south. One beloved ship, the icebreaker USCGC Polar Star, heads north to Seattle to prepare for another round of her annual mission: Operation Deep Freeze, where she breaks a navigable channel through pack ice to open Mc...

Who's on the river today? A look at today's ship traffic, and a change in the weather coming this weekend.

On any given day, there's a lot going on upriver with vessels that downriver folk don't see The Columbia River is a busy water highway, with lots of vessels working, many of them upriver in places that folks near Astoria and even upriver in Portland and Vancouver, don't see. Today we'll talk about some of what happens as vessels do their work upriver.

The research vessel Atlantis is at the Port of Astoria One of my favorite ships is here in town: the research vessel Atlantis. She's owned by the US Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, located on Cape Cod. She's been doing research on underwater volcanoes in the Pacific in recent years. She comes into Astoria occasionally to change crews, pick up supplies, etc. S...

Cruise ship pollution and beyond - a look at effluent treatment and handling, at sea and on land. A listener raised an issue about cruise ships and the pollution they create, so I thought I'd explore that topic today. As I was gathering info, I started looking at how sewage is treated both on land and at sea. Turns out, while wastewater treatment is a lifesaver, we are a planet filled with peo...

The Coastal Jet: an interesting weather phenomenon we could see here this weekend Today we'll talk more about the weather, which is in for a change this weekend, and about an unusual meteorological phenomenon we could see called the coastal jet that happens from time to time here. It causes winds along the coast to speed up, sometimes dramatically, while winds offshore can be much calmer.

Salt water wedge: a an interesting feature of the Columbia River estuary Today we'll talk about one of the most fascinating aspects of the lower river: the presence of a massive salt water wedge that occurs when the tide is rising, as heavier salt water sinks beneath fresh river water.

New moons, tides, solar eclipses - all part of our cyclic natural world The next two weeks are packed with astronomical happenings: a new moon, a solar eclipse, and the autumnal equinox. We'll talk about them in the context of our natural maritime world, where life continues in habitual patterns that play out in tides, moon cycles and waning daylight at this time of year. And, our coastal weat...

Serenade of the Seas visits Astoria on a repositioning cruise This morning we'll see the Serenade of the Seas, a big, blue-water cruise ship that will be docked at the Port of Astoria all day. She's on her way back down south for the winter, having stopped here in May when she was headed north for a summer of cruises in the Puget Sound region and perhaps Alaska. Astoria's cruise ships...

A bit about the weather, a solo sailor, ships and... a touch of pneumonia... Apologies for my absence from this platform last week. I was diagnosed with pneumonia a week ago Sunday, and this week has been spent getting enough strength back to sit at my computer. Glad to feel well enough for that! I was flat out on the couch last week, but I'm glad to be back, though I'm moving slowly. Look...

More about ships and cargo on the river today A snapshot of who's on the river today, and a bit about anomalies in the ship schedule, and a look at one cargo ship that's arriving today that isn't handling any cargo at all.