WHAT?!

First of all, any seaman, military or commercial, can tell you there is no heckler known as the “Filipino Monkey“. Rather it’s a phrase that’s been uttered anonymously by thousands of mariners for decades. This harassing radio call with racial origins is made over the radio when a sailor hears the distinct accent of a Filipino mariner on the VHF radio.

Why you may ask?

Mostly out of boredom but also for the simple reason that it is sure to get a heated response.

It also happens to be the bane of every Watch Officer’s existence; a joke that is no longer funny but refuses to die. Tim’s Times gave us the details behind this heckle back in September 2008:

The two tone alarm has gone again and this time it’s a pan pan from La Coruna Radio, other side of the Bay of Biscay. You wouldn’t mind so much if it was just the official users of VHF and MF radio that you had to contend with, but oh no there is every manner of animal sound, and jungle noise on the VHF from people who should not be on the radio, let alone a ship. One moron was calling out, “Gorilla from Manila, and Filipino monkey” my watchman who is from Manila laughed and said that it is often Indian’s who call this out to provoke a response from Filipinos, who say “Indian I can’t see you, but I can smell you”. So childish and these guys are in charge of ships, frightening, and these days it is all being recorded, so you must be dealing with stupidity, says a lot for the profession….

Boing Boing tells us;

Indeed, the voice in the audio sounds different from the one belonging to an Iranian officer shown speaking to the cruiser, USS Port Royal over a radio from a small open boat in the video released by Iranian authorities. He is shown in a radio exchange at one point asking the U.S. warship to change from the common bridge-to-bridge channel 16 to another channel, perhaps to speak to the Navy without being interrupted…

“For 25 years there’s been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats,” he said. “He could be tied up pierside somewhere or he could be on the bridge of a merchant ship.”

And the Monkey has stamina.

“He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy,” he said. “But who knows how many Filipino Monkeys there are? Could it have been a spurious transmission? Absolutely.”

Initially I was shocked that a Navy ship, or any ship, could not have known the taunt was a joke. This is seamanship 101. I clearly remember having the taunt whispered in my ear by an upperclassmen during my plebe year that the Naval Academy and by the time I received my officers license I had heard it hundreds of time. How could the officers of the cruiser Port Royal not know this was a common joke? I’m admitting still confused but after hearing the audio file I must say it doesn’t sound like the typical ‘Filipino Monkey’ taunt.

I’ll give the last comment to the cruise ship captain quoted by the Navy Times since it’s both accurate and contains good advice to mariners:

“It was just a gut feeling, something the merchants did. Guys would get bored, one guy hears it, comes back a year later and does it for himself,”

The former skipper noted that he warned his crew about hecklers when preparing to transit Hormuz. “I tell them they’ll hear things on there that will be insulting,” he said. “You tell your people that you’ll hear things that are strange, insulting, aggravating, but you need to maintain a professional posture.”

A civilian mariner with experience in that region said the Filipino Monkey phenomenon is worldwide, and has been going on for years.

“They come on and say ‘Filipino Monkey’ in a strange voice. They might say it two or three times. You’re standing watch on bridge and you’re monitoring Channel 16 and all of a sudden it comes over the radio. It can happen anytime. It’s been a joke out there for years.”

While it happens all over the world, it’s more likely to occur around the Strait of Hormuz because there is so much shipping traffic, he said.

You can watch the Iranian video at EagleSpeak.

Photo By OneEighteen

If you work on ships it’s likely you are familiar with the Motorola HT750 Portable Two-Way UHF Radio. It’s well built, simple to use and is intrinsically safe. What I like most about the radio is the lack of an LCD screen, which can crack, and it’s minimalist approach to it’s button layout. The radio is almost perfect in that I can just pick it up, dial into a channel and it just works.

But even with this radio their are a few areas that need to be improved. Most notably it could be stronger, lighter and have a longer battery life.

Motorola EX500 Small & Light Portable UHF Radio

While not any stronger the EX500 is nearly half the weight and size of the HT750 and is available with the same basic accessories as its forefather  meaning I no longer have to keep a brick clipped on my belt. The real innovation however, is in it’s lithium-ion battery.

You can buy Li-Ion batteries for the 750, but replacing perfectly good batteries is a hard sell to management (believe me I’ve tried!). Why are Li-Ion batteries better? Well they charge faster, last longer, are lighter, don’t have memory effect…. The list goes on, but basically if you’re ever in an emergency when you battery dies, you’ll wish you had Li-Ion.

Motorola APX 7000XE P25 Portable Radio

I once dropped an HT750 from 20′ onto a steel deck, the battery popped out but their was no damage to the unit but I have seen one dropped from about 30′ and it broke apart. Certainly the HT750 is strong enough for my everyday needs but what would be the harm in having one that’s a bit stronger?

Introducing the Motorola APX 7000XE P25 Portable Radio. While I hate the name and it’s not any lighter or smaller than the HT750 I do like the design. It’s got some great features:

Voice Encryption

FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified hardware encryption provides tamperproof security to ensure the highest level of secure communications.

In the open ocean you have no need for encrypted traffic but transit the Gulf Of Aden it’s a must-have accessory. The conversations on a regular UHF radio can be heard by anyone with a cheap Radio Shack scanner but maritime security relies on secure communication and this radio provides it by encrypting the voice traffic.

Encryption has other uses as well. In a busy port it makes it impossible to cross signals with nearby ships… because when a nearby ship squawks “Drop The Anchor” over a common frequency you don’t want your boatswain to start swinging the break. And if he does release the anchor underway you don’t want the local media station listening in on the next polite words you say to him.
Dual Microphones

Directional-sensing technology locates the talker and activates sophisticated algorithms in noisy environments, cancelling out unwanted background noise and delivering clear communication.

Ok, I have no idea if this works but it does sound cool.
Integrated GPS

Enables accountability and location tracking of an individual or vehicle, which can be sent to a map-based location application, allowing dispatch operators to manage and track personnel resources.

While this technology is still being worked out, in the future it might help you track the location of your fire team on deck or help you locate your Fast Rescue Boat in fog.

Ergonomic and Rugged

…our most advanced, rugged radio with innovative features designed by first responders for first responders in extreme environments. Together we created an ergonomically superior radio that is easy to operate, with glove-friendly controls and a large top display.

We do not have specifications as to how tough these radios are just the promise from Motorola that they are more rugged than the HT750… and that’s all I need to hear to put a smile on my face.

This Is Important

You may think “It’s just another radio”… something you have given very little thought to in the past and are unlikely to think much about in the future. But UHF’s are important. In the past few months I have read countless incident reports while doing research for my book and a large majority of them have witness statements that goes something like this “I woke up and tried to contact the ECR but the phone system was down and there where no sound-powered phones around.” and this “I woke up and went to my emergency station not knowing what was happening.” None of them mention radios because none of them had radios on them.

If you have duties on the station bill then you need to have a UHF radio on you at all times which means you need to have a charger in your room. Sharing radios with your roomate who works a different shift is not good enough, when the bells sound you should pop out from bed, turn on your radio and start listening to what is happening outside.

Next week’s topic…. having a spare set of boots, hardhat and fire-resistant coveralls hanging IN YOUR ROOM AT ALL TIMES. Having your gear in a boot locker outside, in the laundry or buried in your locker is not safe in the event of a big emergency. And while your coveralls are hanging throw a spare set of gloves, eye-protection and a flashlight in your pocket… they may save your life.

Suffering from regulatory pressure, uncooperative management and looking at the success of a previous pirate radio ship, the Radio Caroline, a team of radio executives planned to create a new offshore venture by installing two pirate radio stations on an anchored ship. The original plan called for the use of a high-flying balloon system in order to keep a high antenna aloft which would transmit radio programs to nearby residents of the UK. The team soon realized this plan was overly ambitious, but settled on a more reasonable plan to transmit their signal. Soon after, the M/V Communicator was fitted with powerful gear and a towering antenna to launch their station, “Laser 558″. Wikipedia tells us:

Laser 558 was a popular European offshore pirate radio station (others include Radio Caroline, Radio Noordzee and Swinging Radio England) launched in 1984. Laser 558 used mainly American disc jockeys who had been recruited and flown over from the USA. The station was based aboard the ship the MV Communicator, which was based in international waters in the North Sea, and thus took advantage of a legal loophole which allowed them to circumvent the requirements for an official license and legally broadcast to the UK. Within a matter of months the station had gained an audience of millions – probably because of its programming format of one oldie followed by one current song. Eventually poor management and lack of advertising income starved the station off the air. In 1986 an attempt was made to return the station to the airwaves as Laser Hot Hits, but the same problems arose once more. Read More…

The following is a brief look at how they built the piracy antenna. Click here to see the full photo details.

For those who think “times have changed”, think again. While the M/V Communicator is no longer pirating the airwaves, the attitude of the times lives on aboard the Principality of SeaLand. Further, Vice TV, brings us the following episode detailing the current state of pirate radio. They tell us:

We went to London to tell the story of pirate radio – secret urban studios that transmit music from concrete tower blocks to the city, and met with DJs, and station managers, rappers and MCs. We met with DJ Scratcha from RINSE FM, MC Flirt from old school KOOL FM, J2k, Jammer, and Logan Sama. We uncovered how they stay underground and away from the authorities, while still setting the new music standard across London. We sailed to the source, where it all started – massive concrete and steel forts that sit at the mouth of the Thames River. We met the people who pioneered the spirit of pirate, and played the music that London wanted to hear. They set the standard, and when the authorities shut them down, pirate sounds went into the urban underground.

Here is the full episode:

Strange Indeed.

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

Fred Pot pointed me to the ability of an AIS device to assist in making a VHF DSC call. Nice!

6.10 Making a DSC Call (In map mode)

To make a DSC call, the unit must be connected to a SimNet compatible

DSC VHF radio.

.

In Display Mode highlight a vessel icon then press and hold the

HOME/DSC key, the AI50 will format a Routine Individual DSC call.  A

"Creating DSC Call" window opens showing the MMSI number and name of

the vessel you intend to call.

.

If this is correct and you wish to continue, press Ret MENU or > to

send the call. The "Routine DSC Call" window opens confirming that the

call has been created and sent to the VHF radio.

Read the full post HERE.

This week’s topics include;

• Listener Comments
  • Antarctic Cruise Ship Sinking
  • Sinking of the Texas Clipper
• Pasha Bulker Incident Report – Photos HERE
• 9 Days on raft after losing keel

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We are thrilled to announce a new endeavor from the editors of gCaptain and leadership gurus at Sea Fever Consulting…

A Maritime podcast; Messing About In Ships.

Starting today, gCaptain’s own Captain John Konrad and our friend Peter Mello of Sea-Fever.org will be producing a weekly podcast about all things related to ships. Many of you may be familiar with Kenneth Graham’s 1908 classic children’s book, The Wind in the Willows in which Ratty declares to Mole:

“There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats“

Well, we may have grown up a bit but we still agree with Ratty; only now we mess about in slightly larger and more complicated vessels.

Each week we’ll explore stories that appear in gCaptain’s great Discoverer news section of their website. We also will select a blog or podcast for a weekly feature we call New Media Port of Call. We have plans to interview maritime professionals, authors, educators, regulators and others about issues that affect the maritime industry today and into the future. Finally, each episode will close with a selection music from the Podsafe Music Network for your enjoyment.

What we are most excited about is you taking an active role in shaping this project. We have set up a Messing About In Ships blog where the show notes and links from each episode will appear and we encourage you to comment there. Also consider recording a short audio comment, attach it as an MP3 file to an email and send it to podcast@messingaboutinships.com and we will find a way to integrate it into the program.

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Visit MessingAroundInShips.com for show notes and more details.