It sounds like you may have strayed into an exercise area that could and should have been notified by navigation warnings. The warship may have wanted a CPA of 20 miles but for the missile they were about to fire the CPA was not so much.
If you questioned the “ funny lights “ on the USCG ship EAGLE there may have been someone wanting to have a look at your license.
Sorry Jughead it was meant for NEW3M
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Being classed as being a pre-boomer VHF was simply unavailable in my time in the Navy and on first joining the merchant navy. It was my misfortune to be serving on a tanker with a rather long name. I spent some time in the rain on calling at US ports clutching the Aldiss lamp responding to US warships.
I found some merchantmen were very good at flashing until later they eventually just answered “VHF”.
The radio room flooded.
Ok, they don’t have back systems?
No portable sat phones?
What about handheld VHF’s? They couldn’t call a nearby ship to relay the distress?
There are, but everything is still channeled through radio… which reacts poorly to water.
There are also Iridium phones, which I have only ever seen stored in… radio.
VHF was an option, but honestly I wouldn’t put out a call in the open to ask a ship to phone home for me either, it’s not the OpSec way. That might not be a satisfying answer, but it’s the truth.
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Well that seems like a major design flaw… but I come from drillships where everything (even cable runs) has to be triple redundant. Regular commercial ships are still only required to carry one epirb which is crazy since they are so inexpensive now.
So what happens in war if your radio room gets hit?
No, that makes sense.
Still seems like a major training opportunity.
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Nope. In the main, common traffic lane heading from Florida to the Northeast. Funnily enough, it was right outside Norfolk. How bout that.
I’ve never questioned the funny lights on the Eagle…because I sailed on her.
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I know it’s the Navy and not commercial, but I don’t believe any ship in my company has a portable sat phone. Some people do carry their own, but that’s not consistent.
I never carried a full sat phone but I did carry an older version of one of these for text messages:
You go silent. The longer answer is this has a lot to do with encryption. You can have transmitters and antennas all over the ship, but crypto is only ever going to get loaded in radio. Without crypto you’d only be able to transmit in the clear. There is an eventuality for that, Fleet Tactical (FLT TAC). It’s secured using ATP-1 phraseology, pre-assigned unit designations, and the ability to encrypt using paper keys. To use FLT TAC though you have to know who is out there to talk to, which means it’s only useful in a task force setting.
I suspect that comms will (continue to) be one of the major sore spots in the wars to come.
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Right of way, Hmmm ok whatever.
Although I do agree about VHF. As would the MCA and most international mariners.
No point trying to explain why here though.
As often as not I find VHF is used to agree not to follow the rules.
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Seriously?
Good grief.
The VHF assisted collision is still a well known phenomenon.
VHF has its time and place but is grossly over used,
Particularly to make a departures from the rules.
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Depends on how limited or unlimited you experience is.
Working Coastal, in pilotage waters from Puget Sound to Alaska. I make routine VHF ship to ship to calls all day, with Pilots, and other Local vessels on VTS channels. The vast majority of vessels I communicate with a participating with VTS.
I know exactly who they are, Not just the ship, I recognize the voice on the other vessel.
We communicate very effectively with each other, it’s an important even critical for meeting in confined waters and narrow channels.
I’d say exactly the same for the lakes or inland waterways.
If I leave the my comfortable home waters and head of to the far side of the world.
Even though AIS and GMDSS allow me to accurately identify and direct contact the other vessel.
I still have to try and communicate to with someone who does not speak the same language as me, Even when they speak excellent English.
I don’t.
All you have to do is listen to a pilot boat trying to explain which side he wants the pilot ladder on.
not so bad
Until the pilot boat asks. The ship to alter for a lee.
So when I go to the far side of the world, I am on the funny foreign ship, I speak some weird buggered up version of a foreign language way to fast, using words and phrases they have never heard off.
The chances of getting the right point across from one bridge to the other diminishing quickly.
While two of their local pilots chat away quite happily to each other and with local tugs and coasters ect.
So when Rome I let the Romans do what they do and I just stick with the rules. I don’t need to be able to talk to them to do so.
all that said, if you are unsure of the other vessels intentions, and you have the vessels name on your screen, and he is required monitor 16, it is very near negligent in my mind to not attempt to call them and try to clarify the situation. Understanding all the limitations you say, and the chance it may not help or could even hurt. To sit there in doubt of the other ships intentions, in possession of tools that could help clarify the situation and not try to use them - seems poor seamanship to me.
I agree with the points you make. On passage up the Elbe to Hamburg, the Thames to Tilbury, or from Port Angeles to Seattle the pilots are in constant communication on the VHF with other pilots and masters of ships that have pilotage exemption. They have a long association with each other and the system works well.
Unfortunately this doesn’t transport well. On a seismic ship with an array extending 4.5 miles astern with an AIS on the centre tail buoy, displaying restricted in the ability to manoeuvre in our lights and AIS some didn’t want to play by the rules. Mostly when called to the bridge I managed to get the message across but occasionally I had to resort to tools not available to most. High speed internet to establish the offending ships full particulars, then getting one of the 14 nationalities that I had onboard to communicate with said vessel. The ability to speak English is not as wide spread as the IMO and STCW would suggest.
Yep and so are the ecdis assisted collisions like the radar assisted collisions before them.
VHF is a tool.
Sometimes it can be very helpful and other times it can do more harm than good. It can be used properly or improperly. In the hands of a novice I can make a total mess but in the hands of a master I can make a total mess into work of art.
It’s just a tool.
Guess it’s all a matter of what’s standard now versus the past in both the Navy and Merchant Marine.
I know taking visual bearings of both landmarks and ships via bridgewing repeater were a big thing in the past. Not so much anymore. We have radar and ecdis that do it all for you. Better to keep your eyes cycling between wheelhouse windows, radar, ecdis, fathometer for danger than be running around jotting down running coastwise fixes and shooting visual bearings on single targets. I know those are cool old-school things to do but in heavy traffic not viable IMO. I will concede they are good to know in case you lose all electronics in some worst case incident.
And yeh, you call ships on VHF to arrange passing if there is any situation other than clear and obvious. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. That’s foreign and domestic. You at least try to make contact, it’s prudent seamanship. Sometimes you get overwhelmed and can’t call everyone obviously but the rest will likely hear you and know more about what you intend to do. Or you can stay mum, “rely on rules” and hope for the best, I guess?
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