The Ship Report

Northern lights, ship schedule, weather and a bit about ship names

Today we'll look at the unusual appearance of aurora borealis in our region, the extended weather forecast (when will we return to our typical rainy pattern?), a look at the schedule and a bit about ship names.

A look at ships and cargo

Today let's take a look at who's on the river, but also review a bit of general info about the types of ships that come here, where they come from, and some significant differences between them.

Salt vs fresh water: how does water salinity affect sea conditions?

Today we'll walk about an interesting but obscure topic for most land dwellers: how stormy sea conditions can vary between large bodies of fresh and salt water, like the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. It's not something we usually think about on land, but mariners know it well. And a bit more about what local conditions make our region so hazardous.

Good weather coming our way, and a look at ships and cargo

We have what looks to be a week-long spell of sunshine or at least "not-raining" coming our way.

We'll also take a look at ships and cargo, and how cargo determines the types of ships you see in a given region.

A foggy time on the lower Columbia River

It's been pretty foggy in parts of the lower Columbia region the past few days. Or not foggy at all, depending on where you are. It's part of a a larger pattern this week statewide of dense foggy conditions.

We'll talk about what might be causing our fog here and what ships do under such conditions.

The USNS Grasp, a Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship, comes to Portland

We're seeing unusual ships arriving in the river this week so far. Yesterday it was the USCGC Healy, the Coast Guard's biggest ship, headed to the Swan Island shipyard.

Today it's the USNS Grasp, a highly specialized rescue and salvage ship, whose job it is to save people and ships when they get in trouble on the water.

Image: the USNS Grasp, photo courtesy of US Navy photo gallery.

The USCGC Healy, US Coast Guard icebreaker and the agency's largest vessel, comes to the Columbia

Today we'll see the USCGC Healy, a Coast Guard icebreaker and the agency's largest vessel, enters the river early this morning on her way to the Vigor shipyard in Portland for about 8 months of repairs and maintenance. She's an unusual vessel with some interesting history behind her name.

The Columbia River Bar is on Red status, so what happens now?

Yesterday the Columbia River Bar was on Red status, per the Columbia River Bar Pilots. It's the most severe restriction on ship traffic they can impose, and it means most, if not all, ships will be restricted from coming in or out of the river till the weather improves.

We have a big potential ship schedule today, meaning lots of ships want to enter and leave the river. Today we'll talk about the effect a temporary, weather-related closure like this has on vessels, and what they do while they wait.

A look at how marine pilots decide which ships will cross the bar in challenging weather

We've got another round of inclement weather coming in, and it's a good time to talk about how our marine pilots, who are in charge of assisting ships in and out of the river, decide when the weather is too difficult to allow ships to transit until things calm down. We'll talk about that today.

Who's on the river - and some weather comin' in, during which it will rain until it stops

Now that the fleeting festivities of New Years have faded away, let's turn our attention to the workhorse ships that continue to do their work despite holidays, weather and other distractions.

Also, we'll look at the weather, which is worsening a bit again - and we'll talk about my favorite KMUN inclement weather forecast ever.