The Ship Report

Cargo on the Columbia

Today we'll take a look at our ships on the river from a slightly different perspective: a closer look at what's on board and what it's used for.

The daily rhythm of life on the river goes on

Today, it's another beautiful day on the river, and we have another opportunity to see the rhythm of daily life passing by: our 90 percent of everything on ships, a wonderful part of life on our river.

It's something we love, and that hasn't changed - despite tragic national events.

Offshore weather brings wind and rain

A pretty big storm is missing us here on land, while creating difficult conditions for ships at sea.

Baltimore's bridge disaster

The horrific scene in Baltimore harbor strikes fear into communities like ours, where we have a big river and big bridges with ships passing under them.

Today we'll talk about what's known so far about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor after it was hit by a huge containership.

We'll also talk about whether that could happen here on the Columbia.

Waves and storms

Farewell, Fisher Poet Clem Starck

Today we honor Oregon poet Clemens Starck, an award winning poet and author who was a regular performer at the annual Fisher Poet's Gathering in Astoria.

Clem passed away last week at the age of 86, but his evocative work lives on. Today we'll hear him reading of a poem he wrote from his days as a merchant mariner, and learn a little about his life

The USNS Mercy heads to Portland

Beautiful. mysterious river fog

The other morning in Astoria, people were treated to a lovely natural event: the river and surrounding areas were shrouded in thick, velvety fog.

Ships sounded their fog horns while they made their way through it, while the hillside above the river enjoyed bright sunshine and blue skies.

Today we'll talk about river fog and what causes it.

But wait, there's more! About dredging...

We'll talk about how deep the channels are, other channels on the Columbia besides the main ship channel, and why the Columbia will never be able to accommodate some ships that are just too big.

The present and future of ship emissions

Sharp-eyed ship watchers concerned about pollution noticed a ship traveling in the river yesterday, emitting what looked like smoke from its stack. As it turns out, seeing that was good news, since it shows the ship has an emissions scrubber on board, and what folks saw was mostly steam.

But that sighting opens the door to talk about recent international regulations that have reduced pollution in shipping, with plans for even more reductions by 2050.