This was prior to the introduction of the ‘SOS’ and the recognized call sign for ships in distress then was ‘CQD’. This signal had been devised by the Marconi Company, it was intended to mean ‘All Stations – Urgent’, but was popularly misinterpreted as ‘Come Quick – Danger’ or ‘Come Quickly Down’.

The ‘SOS’ signal was established as an International Distress Signal by an agreement made between the British Marconi Society and the German Telefunk organisation at the Berlin Radio Conference, 3 October 1906. The signal was formally introduced on 1 July 1908.

The first time the ‘SOS’ signal was used in an emergency was on 10 June 1909, when the Cunard liner SS Slavonia was wrecked off the Azores. Two steamers received her signals and went to the rescue.

Fact from: The Shell Book of Firsts. By Patrick Robertson. Elbury Press & Michael Joseph Ltd. London.

Bearings, “A Geographer’s Blog” from Berkley, has a new series on Radio’s Rise During World War I. The series includes the history of undersea cables and the ships that pioneered the development of Marconi’s invention. All those history buffs out their should check out the rest of the site as well.

Also check out;

• Spark’s Museum’s collection of restored Marconi radios: LINK
• Radio Officer Nostalgia
• Radio Officer Photo Gallery

This is the VHF recording between M/V CEC Future and a Coalition aircraft as the vessel was being attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia back in early November 2008.  The attack resulted in the CEC Future being siezed and held for over two months before ransom, of an undisclosed amount, was paid to the hijackers.

According to statements released by the vessel’s operator, Clipper Project Ship Management of Copenhagen, Denmark, there were 13 crew members on board, of which 11 are Russian citizens, 1 Georgian and 1 Estonian.  All crew members were released and uninjured with the ship.

From what I could tell from the recording, it was about 8 minutes from the time the CEC Future first radioed for help to the time they reported the hijackers to be on board “with guns”.

The recording was just released on YouTube via user qewr1234567.  While it is in English, the audio is somewhat muffled with Russian subtitles, so you must listen closely.

You can also read all press releases released by Clipper Project on this incident HERE

Thanks to gCaptain member, balticsemen, for pointing us to this.

The BBC World Service has recently released an audio documentary that takes a look at Piracy around the world. You can download the program HERE

Robbery on the high seas is not just confined to 18th century literature or Hollywood films, it is still very much alive today.

In the second part of his series on pirates, Nick Rankin travels to Mombasa on Kenya’s east coast to investigate the extent of the problem.

From ship-owners who have had to pay ransoms to terrorised crew-members, he finds out what is being done at an international level to make the seas of the world safer.

Part 2 – Modern day sea pirates

Ninety percent of the world’s trade is still moved by sea, so it is not surprising that piracy against cargo vessels remains a significant issue.

It is estimated that seaborne piracy costs the world tens of millions of dollars a year.

Piracy peaked in 2003 with 445 attacks around the world and since then, they have steadily come down.

In 2006 there were 239 attacks and last year the number increased slightly to 249.

Attacks rose by fourteen percent towards the end of last year, largely around the territorial waters off Somalia.

Potential targets

According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirates attack different kinds of vessels for a variety of reasons.

In Nigeria, pirates tend to attack vessels involved in the oil business.

In South East Asia, mainly small tankers, tugs and barges are seized.

Cargo is often stolen from barges and crew-members are kidnapped and held for ransom.

In Somalia, any merchant ship is a potential target and they are advised to stay at least 200 miles off the coat of Somalia.

Piracy is a growing business

Somalia is a unique problem as there is no effective central government and no navy to protect its territorial waters.

The country has also been at war for almost two decades.

As a result, many young Somali men are uneducated and have no concept of the rule of law. Piracy has now become a way of making a living.

Many foreign vessels fish in Somali waters ilegally, so militia groups have taken it upon themselves to tax those who do.

Pirate fisherman provide cheap fish for home markets and Somali pirates support their towns and villages.

That raises a key question: is helping your own people good or bad?

An organisation called ‘Taskforce 150′ has been in operation since 2003 to try and improve maritime security. It involves naval forces from America, Britain, Pakistan and many more.

Without help from other countries, it is very difficult to imagine whether Somalia will have sufficient resources and infrastructure to deal with piracy itself.

When you think of The David Clark Company you might think about their iconic sage green colored headphones that are in use worldwide by both military and civilian pilots. However, The David Clark Company builds a wide range of intercom systems that are used by clients such as the NFL, NASCAR and NASA. Here at gCaptain.com we are interested in their Series 9800 “Go-Fast” and Series 9500 “Workboat” marine intercom systems. We had a chance to speak with Bob Carroll of David Clark about their marine products. Here is what he had to tell us.

What systems do you offer to the maritime community?

David Clark Company offers a number of products to the marine community from headsets and radio adapters for marine VHF radios to complete intercom systems for all types of crafts. We manufacturer headsets and radio adapters for many brands of commercial and marine radios, including some models designated as intrinsically safe. We have a full line of headsets for voice powered systems found in many engine rooms as well as headsets compatible with many shipboard telephone systems.

Our line of intercom systems includes products to interface from one to eight headsets, providing hands free duplex conversation as well as the ability to monitor and speak over an unlimited number of radios. Some of our systems also allow for music input with auto muting during radio conversations and the ability to interface with a cell phone or satellite phone.

What makes your marine products different from your aviation products?

I am not sure anyone knows exactly how many different headsets David Clark Company manufactures. Counting all the “specials” we make for a number of different markets, the number of models could easily approach 200 different headsets. By far most of these products are used in commercial or military markets where exposure to salt water or spray is not a primary concern.

When we began designing our marine product line, one of our main considerations was the significant negative impact of salt and salt water on metal and electronic components. Although our marine headsets may look similar to our line of commercial headsets, the similarity stops at the surface. All of our marine headsets are designed utilizing all stainless steel components right down to the last washer or cap nut. All of the major electronic components including ear elements and microphones are waterproof and even the plugs and connectors are designed specifically for the rugged marine market. All enclosures, such as those utilized for intercom system master stations, are extruded aluminum with a special marine coating ensuring years of dependable service. System connectors and plugs are either locking connectors or break-away connectors depending on the application and all have o-rings installed to ensure a water resistant connection. Our confidence in our marine products ability to withstand the harsh saltwater environment is backed by a five year warranty on all modules and a one year warranty on all headsets, cables and accessories.

Where are your products in use today?

The marine market is actually our newest market. Although David Clark Company has been around since 1935, we had never ventured into the marine market. Instead, we had concentrated on developing products for the military and commercial markets, along the way introducing the first headsets to the NFL, NASCAR and even developing the first space suit for NASA among many other products.

Our venture into the marine market began about 15 years ago with a phone call from U.S. Customs R&D group in Washington, DC. At the time they were struggling with a communications solution for use on their interceptor boats used for drug interdiction. Because of our reputation for developing and building some of the best noise attenuating headsets in the world, we were contacted to develop a communications system to allow four MEO’s (marine enforcement officers) to communicate via intercom and to monitor and talk over three radios all while running at full speed. The model 9500 intercom was a complete success. Today, every U.S. Customs interceptor in their fleet is equipped with the system, along with boats in the U.S Navy, Coast Guard and military and commercial craft all over the world.

Our next generation intercom system, the model 9800, was originally developed for the go-fast market. It allows six headsets to be connected to the intercom system along with music input with auto muting, a cell phone or satellite phone as well as interfacing to two VHF radios. The system has been so successful that most major boat OEM’s now offer the model 9800 as an option or as standard equipment. The system has become extremely popular on craft used in law enforcement, fire boats, work boats, sport fishing and all types of craft including air boats and hovercraft.

We recently developed another product called SOLO which takes all of the features of the model 9800 intercom system, i.e. radio, music and cell phone interface, and inputs into a single headset. This product is excellent for markets such as SeaTow, BoatU.S. or operators of loud craft such as tugs or any environment where attenuating loud noise is critical at the same time requiring communication over multiple devices. Our new M-RIM, Multi-Radio Interface Module, allows up to four additional radios to be connected to a SOLO, 9500 or 9800 intercom system. The M-RIM can be daisy chained, thus allowing an unlimited number of radios to interface with these systems.

Does David Clark have any new products that should be of interest to the marine community?

We are constantly updating and tweaking our entire product line. As I stated earlier, our model 9800, SOLO and M-RIM are our newest products. We are constantly finding new market opportunities for each of these systems. I can tell you that we are working on a new technology that is not quite ready for prime time, but I would appreciate an opportunity to chat with you next year after its release.

If there is one thing our readers should know about David Clark it is?

Actually, I believe there are two answers to that question. First, if you are currently a David Clark customer or know someone that is, the most common response to that question would be our excellent Customer Service organization. Sure, we have a reputation for building some of the toughest, most reliable, darn near bullet-proof products in the world. We are key players in markets ranging from general and commercial aviation, military, commercial communications to a growing marine presence. But should our product ever break, we have hands down the best Customer Service organization anywhere. Our Customer Service Reps take great pride in helping customers when in need and are responsive to inquiries and sharing information. All of our products are proudly designed, manufactured and supported in our factory in Worcester, Massachusetts. Products that come back to our factory for repair leave looking and performing like new.

It’s almost impossible to attend a trade show without having customers drop by our booth to share stories about a great experience they had when their product was sent in for repair or when contacting our factory about assistance. It is a reputation that was earned one day at a time and we do not take it for granted.

Secondly, even if you have never owned one of our products or heard of David Clark Company, there is a good chance you have seen our products. Next time you view a TV show, go to a movie or watch a sports event, look for the green headset with the D/C logo. It is rare to sit through a movie with a flying scene or watch a sporting event and not see our headset. Once you notice it, it becomes one of those things you unconsciously begin to look for.

You can learn more about the full line of David Clark products on their website DavidClark.com

USCG Press Release 7 Feb 2008:

Last April the Coast Guard asked for public comment on the need to continue broadcasting high frequency (HF) high seas weather forecasts for single sideband voice, facsimile charts and text messages over radiotelex (e.g. HF NAVTEX). The Coast Guard required public comment because the infrastructure necessary to provide these services had exceeded its life expectancy and significant costs were involved to continue these services.

After reviewing and analyzing the substantial public response that overwhelmingly urged the continuation of these services, the Coast Guard’s “business case study” concluded that it was necessary to continue HF weather broadcasts. The business case study, “An Impact Assessment of Discontinuing USCG High-Frequency Radio Broadcasts of NWS Marine Weather Forecasts” is posted at: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/high_frequency/HF-WX_notice.htm

The study concluded:
“The responding public collectively perceives that the USCG HF broadcasts are essential to their safety. There is no viable alternative to the USCG HF broadcasts because present alternatives are perceived by the public to be out of financial reach. Also, marine weather forecasts available through these alternative sources may not guarantee the same level of accuracy, timeliness, and/or sufficiency as provided by the USCG HF broadcasts.”

While the Coast Guard does not have funds necessary to replace all of its HF transmitters, funds are available to replace the 20 transmitters used for weather broadcasts.

gCaptain appreciates the letters sent after highlighting this issue in May.

Well we are in a new age now and the GMDSS system is almost ready for its spot in the Smithsonian. Now we have internet via satellite, inexpensive phone calls via skype and a better tie to our home life via Web 2.0.

Just last year I was in the South China sea when I got an instant message from my friend Daniel asking, “are you attending the Tech Conference tomorrow”…not unless you are sending a harrier jet. We all got a good laugh at his expense when returned home but it wasn’t his fault. Did he know I was overseas? Yes. His problem was adjusting his though process to the new reality of global communications and social media.

Without giving a sales pitch, we at gCaptain are here to help you (and Daniel) by:

1. Giving you the powerful Web 2.0 tools to manage ships.
2. Helping you wrap your head around new these new concepts
3. Make it as simple as possible <—our largest challenge.

So where is this going? On monday after the “Empress of the North” ran aground near Juneau Alaska I entered the ship’s name in our new Maritime Industry Focused Search Engine. This engine is powered by google but is edited by pro-mariners. I can hear your thoughts: “Do Search Engines have Editors?” …they do now. For the search engine we put in hundreds of man hours polling Masters and Mates asking them what maritime sites they use and which one’s they avoid. By identifying, ranking and filtering these sites we are able to combine professional knowledge with the billion dollar power of Google.

Want to see a test? Go to Google and type in the word “security“. Now go to our Maritime Focused Search and type “security“. See the difference! Here’s the inner dialogue again “hey but I’m interested only in a job as a ISPS coordinater?” Ok, click “Refine results for security: jobs” Now we are talking!

So this brings us to the excitement. Using this search engine I entered the vessels name then refined the results using the “SOLAS” tag. The results? I found that the ship had run aground last year, blogged about my discovery and within the hour got a call from NowPublic, a site working with the Associated Press.

For anyone who is still confused, take heart in knowing so are the internet media professionals. Here is the story they wrote about us: Alaska ship grounding reported from Gulf of Mexico – another NowPublic head-turner