I missed this one:

Not in my experience. I've often called up passing merchant vessels at
sea on VHF 16 and it usually takes several calls for about 10 minutes
before _some_ will reply. I've asked how my visibility on radar is and
got the reply: "let me warm it up....".

I won't try to make excuses for how others may stand their watch (and
yes, I've got my share of similar stories), but would only suggest that
there are other possible reasons for why you aren't getting responses to
your hails on 16, including the possibility that they did not receive
your hail, the watch officer didn't speak English, or that they decided
it wasn't necessary to respond.

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