Darn it all..... I called my buddy on his sat phone last week. He was out
doing a cruise on his 20 ft Bayliner Trophy near Bowen Island in British
Columbia. I could hear the VHF in the background as his wife made dinner
reservations. He told me they tried a cell phone call but the line was busy
so they hailed the restaurant by radio instead. He also told me he was
really pleased that he took my advise not to include the SSB in the sale of
his sailboat and installed it on his small power boat. Seems he can contact
the ships around there just like he did on his trip across the Atlantic. .

Another friend of mine works as a shipping agent and he says he has a heck
of a time contacting his vessels.... sometimes he actually has to use his
cell phone and call their Satphone number. Uncanny..... is the fact that
every company knows where their vessels are! I think he said something about
them having to report? How odd is that Rick?

Yup... I guess you were right... I don't have a clue about communications
aboard vessels.
In retrospect "Mad Ellen" was flirting with disaster despite an advanced
array of computer and telecom equipment .

CM

Capt. Mooron wrote:

... he actually has to use his
cell phone and call their Satphone number.

Duh ... he had the phone number didn't he, dip****.

Uncanny..... is the fact that
every company knows where their vessels are!

Yeah, and YOU don't know who the company is or where they and their
ships are are and you don't have diddly sqat info about any ship that
"might" be there.

It was nice that you could call your buddy. You had his phone number
didn't you? Did you call one of the bulkers that were rounding the
corner into English Bay just a couple of miles away? Not knowing if a
ship was even there, much less what the name of the ship might be, who
owns it and who manages it, you will have fun obtaining the ships sat
phone number.

You really don't get it do you?

Rick

Coast Guard reg. #45.3-84.6 = starting March, 2006, all ships will be
required to have their phone number painted on both sides of hull and
on the stern. Numbers must be day-glo orange paint, min 8' tall and be
visible for 500 miles (even in fog). Lighting is required after dusk.

Scotty


"Jetcap" wrote in message
...
Capt. Mooron wrote:

... he actually has to use his
cell phone and call their Satphone number.

Duh ... he had the phone number didn't he, dip****.

Uncanny..... is the fact that
every company knows where their vessels are!

Yeah, and YOU don't know who the company is or where they and their
ships are are and you don't have diddly sqat info about any ship
that
"might" be there.

It was nice that you could call your buddy. You had his phone number
didn't you? Did you call one of the bulkers that were rounding the
corner into English Bay just a couple of miles away? Not knowing if
a
ship was even there, much less what the name of the ship might be,
who
owns it and who manages it, you will have fun obtaining the ships
sat
phone number.

You really don't get it do you?

Rick

"Jetcap" wrote in message

It was nice that you could call your buddy. You had his phone number
didn't you? Did you call one of the bulkers that were rounding the corner
into English Bay just a couple of miles away? Not knowing if a ship was
even there, much less what the name of the ship might be, who owns it and
who manages it, you will have fun obtaining the ships sat phone number.

You really don't get it do you?

I guess I don't..... I would never think of calling the port authority for
information on shipping schedules which would include arrivals & departures?
Where would I obtain a list of shipping lines to a certain port and inform
them of the situation ... then have them inform their ships in the area? I
mean that's impossible isn't it?
I guess when a 'bulker" is enroute... nobody knows where they are or what
route they are taking or when they will arrive eh?

Yeah... all those hundreds of thousands of vessels out there and nobody
knows where they are. Let's face it Rick... according to you.. they can't be
contacted! I guess Fleet Tracking is just a wet dream!

Plus I would assume that no manner of radio communication or radar target
would matter much if the entire bridge crew is in the mess getting drunk and
watching videos.... as they usually are.. the *******s!

CM

Amazing.

Grace


"Jetcap" wrote ...
Amazing.

Capt. Mooron wrote:


Yeah... all those hundreds of thousands of vessels out there and nobody
knows where they are. Let's face it Rick... according to you.. they can't be
contacted! I guess Fleet Tracking is just a wet dream!

Lets be a little more realistic here. I am sure that for each commercial vessel and many private vessels that there exists at least on person with
their feet on terra firma with a reasonable notion as to said vessel's wherabouts at any given time. I am equally sure that there does not exist a
single person or entity with information of all vessels whereabouts at the same time.

How many vessels are at sea at any given time, how many shipping companies, how many independant operators, how many ports..... and how do you collect
the required information from all of them and collate it?

Cheers
Marty


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Martin Baxter wrote:
Capt. Mooron wrote:


Yeah... all those hundreds of thousands of vessels out there and
nobody knows where they are. Let's face it Rick... according to you..
they can't be contacted! I guess Fleet Tracking is just a wet dream!


Lets be a little more realistic here. I am sure that for each
commercial vessel and many private vessels that there exists at least on
person with their feet on terra firma with a reasonable notion as to
said vessel's wherabouts at any given time. I am equally sure that there
does not exist a single person or entity with information of all vessels
whereabouts at the same time.

How many vessels are at sea at any given time, how many shipping
companies, how many independant operators, how many ports..... and how
do you collect the required information from all of them and collate it?

Cheers
Marty

AMVER, is one system

Martin Baxter wrote:
Lets be a little more realistic here. I am sure that for each
commercial vessel and many private vessels that there exists at least on
person with their feet on terra firma with a reasonable notion as to
said vessel's wherabouts at any given time.

Certainly there are. That was never in question. What Moron wrote was:

"ham radio routing would inform all vessels in the area of her
route and location ..."

Merchant ships at sea do not monitor hobby radio as a means of traffic
advisory.

"... satellite phones are on most commercial and private yachts ..."

So what? The people who were monitoring her passage did not have
information on which merchant ships were in her area at any given time,
who managed those ships, how to contact the ship managers, and certainly
did not have access to sat phone numbers for those ships.

I am equally sure that there does not exist a single person or
entity with information of all vessels whereabouts at the same time.

That is precisely the point. And if there were the likelihood of them
divulging any of that information to some yachtie is slim to zilch.

How many vessels are at sea at any given time, how many shipping
companies, how many independant operators, how many ports..... and how
do you collect the required information from all of them and collate it?

As OTN pointed out, AMVERS is a system by which merchant vessels provide
location and weather information and supply contact information for use
by SAR organizations. The number of AMVERS subscribed ships is quite
small proportional to the world merchant fleet.

"They would be in contravention if no sail plan was filed ... "

Sail plan? Merchant ships do not file "sail plans" with any central
authority. Contravention? WTF?

"More than likely that every vessel passing close to her route
would have been informed."

The point is, informed by whom by what means? Shipping is a very quiet
business and shipowners and managers are not too keen on telling the
world who is where and going in what direction while on the open sea.
And while sailing yachts may be fun to watch at sea, tracking them is
more than the crew has time or desire to do.

Rick

"Jetcap" wrote in message

The point is, informed by whom by what means? Shipping is a very quiet
business and shipowners and managers are not too keen on telling the world
who is where and going in what direction while on the open sea. And while
sailing yachts may be fun to watch at sea, tracking them is more than the
crew has time or desire to do.

There maybe a point you are not considering Rick... the information is a one
way feed. All they need do is supply proposed track and route to the
agencies involved. No information from the agencies or shipping is required.
Private yachts do indeed monitor ham or SSB or VHF or Satphone... plus many
have weather routers on ham/ssb that they contact daily for updates.

CM