"Donal" wrote in message ...
Yesterday, as we approached a large, anchored, oil tanker, it gave one
short blast. About a minute later it gave three short blasts.


One prolonged followed by 3 short usually means they are backing out
of a slip or dock

Does anybody know what this meant?

Perhaps it was a at anchor fog signal, followed a minute later by
astern propulsion signal to dig in an anchor.




At the time, there were few other boats in the vicinity. The tide was
about to turn. In fact the ship changed its attitude by 90 degrees over the
following 15-20 minutes. I noticed some smoke from the funnel for a couple
of minutes.

Do these ships "drive around" when at anchor?

Not usually donel, Its easier if they take the anchor up to drive
around. They might be setting an anchor.

Would they indicate a
starboard turn, and then an astern signal? Perhaps if the are anchor handling.

I tried calling them up on the radio, but there was no reply.

Try shooting a flare at them, then they might reply!


Capt. American



Regards


Donal
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