(Chesapeake Bay) The Marshall islands 600 foot coal carrier BARKALD today proceeded up the Chesapeake Bay en route to Baltimore operating on GMRS repeater input 467.575 MHz. The vessel’s ownership could not be immediately obtained. The MMSI number 538002409 report on AIS was not on file at the ITU. IMO number is 9233404. Ship call sign V7IM6.

The BARKALD made news in 2006 when it was involved in a nighttime collision with a sail boat in Long Island Sound. The Outer Light, a publication of the Saybrook Power Squadron reported on this incident where one person on the sailboat was killed, “The Coast Guard said the crews of both vessels also failed to realize there was a risk of collision and didn’t communicate adequately before the accident on Sept. 20, 2006. Gina Bortolotti, a northern California native who was a chef on the sailboat, the Essence, died. Bothma and Essence captain Ian Robberts were rescued and survived. The 29 crewmembers aboard the freighter Barkald were not seriously hurt. Testing showed that neither alcohol nor drugs were a factor.” The primary cause of the collsion was a mistake made by a sailboat crew member that caused the sailboat to sail directly in the path of the cargo ship.

Reading this one might assume the radio procedures on board this cargo ship are still a problem since 467.575 MHz is not permissible for use by a foreign ship while in US waters. The government of the Marshall Islands also issued a notice to all of their ship’s captains (MS Word DOC File) in 2006 regarding this issue.

A general announcement was made on the local KAE4617 462.575/467.575 repeater announcing the ship’s illegal activity on the repeater input. The ship’s crew was not using CTCSS and could certainly hear this announcement since the ship was visible from the operating location. The crew continued operating conveniently discussing ship’s activity in a language other than English.

The BARKALD is owned by T. Klaveness Shipping A/S of Oslo, Norway according to this article on the 2006 collision with the sailboat ESSENCE.

PRA members in Calvert, St. Mary’s, and Charles County, Maryland are listening for a bus company heard using 457.575 MHz. Although not a GMRS channel this frequency is important to GMRS.  A search of the FCC ULS produced no school or bus service authorized to use 457.575 in Maryland or Virginia.  This frequency is one of those allocated to foreign ships while in US waters under international treaty and FCC Rules. Technically it is an FCC Part 90 business frequency that requires coordination and an FCC business radio license. We are assuming based on the ULS search that these users are unlicensed.

When the frequency is occupied by American pirates (unlicensed users) it could have the effect of crowding away foreign ships onto GMRS.   Ships might then be inclined to use GMRS channels causing FSI-Foreign Shipping Interference. The licensed users of 457.575 MHz  in Maryland are mostly very low power telemetry systems controlling sprinklers on golf courses. Hospitals are also among other licensed users. The busses using this frequency could also be causing severe interference to these coordinated and licensed users.

GMRS licensees in Calvert County are encouraged to monitor  457.575 and report strong signal strengths of bus related traffic to PRA HQ. On-the-air references to Hallowing Point Trailer Park on Route 231 were heard as were bus numbers 3, 27, 49, 87, 99, 120, and 125, A female’s name that is used frequently is Rene. Radio traffic is regarding the loading and dispatching of buses.  A  quickly obtained  directional antenna bearing  was toward Route 231 from  Plum Point, MD.

Once identified the company’s activity will be reported to the Federal Communications Commission.

 

Today, Sunday December 23, 2007 there is foreign ship traffic (Russian language) on 462.725 MHz on the Chesapeake Bay. This is a GMRS repeater output frequency not even listed in international treaties as valid for foreign ships in the USA. There are six authorized channels and 462.725 is not one of those.

The signals appear to have come from one of two cloe-by ships the first is the FREDERIKSBORG, call sign ZDHU5, mmsi: 236365000, registered in GIBRALTAR, underway to Baltimore, MD. This cargo ship is owned by RUNGSTED SHIPPING LIMITED. The other possibility is the ATLANTIC RUNNER, call sign V3XR, mmsi: 312455000, registered in BELIZE. The mmsi broadcast by the Atlantic Runner’s AIS may be invalid since the ITU has no record of the mmsi. This is also a cargo ship en route to Baltimore.

In December ships have been heard on 467.550, 467.575, 467.600, 467.650, 467.675, 462.725 MHz. The number of instances of FSI have been down some but the number of ships violating international treaty in our waters remains way to high. The shipping industry is regulated. The International Telecommunications Union, our NTIA and FCC have rules that visiting ships are supposed to follow. These violations should not be happening. One can only wonder how such violations would be handled in other countries. Ship’s radio officers and the captains of these vessels ought to know better.

(Annapolis, MD) A member of the Personal Radio Association today reported that from one or more of the three foreign ships anchored below the Annapolis Bay Bridge radio transmissions were heard on GMRS repeater inputs 467.575, 467.650, and 467.700 MHz. One ship seen arriving at about 1030 hours was using 467.575 to handle anchoring procedures.

Ships in US waters are NOT permitted to use these radio frequencies yet some ship’s masters and radio officers remain clueless of applicable international agreements. Ships operating on these channels frequently interfere with LICENSED GMRS users of the radio channels. PopularWireless.com coined the problem “Foreign Shipping Interference,” or FSI. The General Mobile Radio Service is used by American families to coordinate their family activities and personal business. In Europe and Asia GMRS is allocated to the maritime service.

The United States Government, through the Federal Communications Commission revised the list of AUTHORIZED frequencies for use by foreign vessels in 2005. These were negotiated by ITU countries in 2003.

” 5.288 In the territorial waters of the United States and the Philippines, the preferred frequencies for use by on-board communication stations shall be 457.525 MHz, 457.550 MHz, 457.575 MHz and 457.600 MHz paired, respectively, with 467.750 MHz, 467.775 MHz, 467.800 MHz and 467.825 MHz. The characteristics of the equipment used shall conform to those specified in Recommendation ITU-R M.1174-1.”

“Ships have been quiet lately as they sail past PRA HQ at Plum Point, Maryland, ” said Doug Smith, President of the PRA, Inc., Board of Trustees. “It appears the compliance to international treaty may only be within radio range of PRA HQ. The PRA has had similar reports from New York Harbor and the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Smith. A log of FSI complaints is maintained at the Personal Wireless BBS at PopularWireless.com.

FCC ET Docket No. 04-139: ?Amendment of Parts 2, 25, and 73 of the Commission’s Rules to Implement Decisions from the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2003) (WRC-03) Concerning Frequency Bands Between 5900 kHz and 27.5 GHz and to Otherwise Update the Rules in this Frequency Range

In part from International Foot Notes::

?”5.287 In the maritime mobile service, the frequencies 457.525 MHz, 457.550 MHz, 457.575 MHz, 467.525 MHz, 467.550 MHz and 467.575 MHz may be used by on-board communication stations. Where needed, equipment designed for 12.5 kHz channel spacing using also the additional frequencies 457.5375 MHz, 457.5625 MHz, 467.5375 MHz and 467.5625 MHz may be introduced for on-board communications. The use of these frequencies in territorial waters may be subject to the national regulations of the administration concerned. The characteristics of the equipment used shall conform to those specified in Recommendation ITU-R M.1174 (see Resolution 341 (WRC-97)7).

?5.288 In the territorial waters of the United States and the Philippines, the preferred frequencies for use by on-board communication stations shall be 457.525 MHz, 457.550 MHz, 457.575 MHz and 457.600 MHz paired, respectively, with 467.750 MHz, 467.775 MHz, 467.800 MHz and 467.825 MHz. The characteristics of the equipment used shall conform to those specified in Recommendation ITU-R M.1174-1.

PopWireless: Did the FCC really give FRS 8 and a guard channel to foreign shipping in 2005? No. 5.288 takes prescedence.

Canadian Military Signs Contract to Evaluate Suitability for Northern Surveillance.

(PopWireless: COMM DEV wants to receive AIS data by satellite and make the data available on earth eliminating the need for thousands of shore based dedicated receivers. This is interesting because AIS monitoring by ship spotters is a new and exciting hobby that got its start when AIS was created in 2004.  PopularWireless maintains an AIS receiver on the Chesapeake Bay at Plum Point, MD to assist in the identification of ships using GMRS radio frequencies in US waters – FSI identification. The PopularWireless AIS receiver data is output to a publicly available Google Map.)
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Coordinating random but expected interference from sources supposedly prevented from causing interference by international law (ITU) and treaty should not be necessary. In a perfect world anyway. As the Personal Radio Association, Inc. recently discovered however, that frequency coordinators responsible for the business pool in the FCC R&R 90.350 may need to do just that. Keeping FSI in mind when granting a license may be particularly necessary since despite the international protections the vast numbers of foreign scofflaws limit the FCC’s response to interference to an education campaign.

The Commission at first was not empathetic with GMRS licensees but has since agreed to assist where they could through informal contacts, memos, and even on some specific complaints against known ships and shipping companies. In the PRA’s view this was preferable to doing nothing considering the unfair impact FSI has on fee-payers in the General Mobile Radio Service. To the Enforcement Bureau’s credit that is a significant concession. When a person looks at an AIS screen of Maryland, D.C., Delaware, and Virginia there are hundreds of ships from foreign countries in US waters. The Enforcement Bureau cannot track and board every scofflaw. It is not possible.

International vessels entering US waters continue to use frequencies in the GMRS and in the IG pool. Yesterday at PRA HQ a ship was logged transiting the Chesapeake Bay using 457.550 MHz as a repeater output channel with a CTCSS of 94.8. In Maryland the following seventeen companies and agencies are licensed to use 457.550 MHz:

Call Sign/Lease ID Name FRN Radio Service Status Expiration Date

1 KD28523 PENINSULA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 0005181599 IG Active 06/07/2013
2 KD3058 PENINSULA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 0006675151 IG Active 04/02/2012
3 WPBY458 Broadcast Sports, Inc. 0002147817 IG Active 07/20/2013
4 WPLL596 UNIVERSAL MARITIME SERVICE CORPORATION 0008781239 IG Active 04/23/2013
5 WPMJ822 MONTGOMERY COUNTRY CLUB 0009516733 IG Active 08/14/2013
6 WPMS858 G L CORNELL COMPANY 0009578345 IG Active 12/03/2013
7 WPNS918 THE BEACH CLUB 0010652816 IG Active 06/01/2014
8 WPNV274 BETHESDA COUNTRY CLUB 0010978112 IG Active 07/01/2014
9 WPOB979 FURNACE BAY GOLF CLUB 0009982273 IG Active 01/22/2014
10 WPOC426 COUNTRY CLUB OF WOODMORE 0009587189 IG Active 02/26/2014
11 WPPN841 Town of Ocean City 0002135184 IG Active 12/29/2014
12 WPPX245 MARLBOROUGH COUNTRY CLUB 0011432275 IG Active 02/24/2015
13 WPPX961 HUNTERS OAK GOLF CLUB 0010791069 IG Active 03/08/2015
14 WPTN610 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 0005563499 IG Active 11/08/2011
15 WPYF299 WASHINGTON, COUNTY OF 0008789521 IG Active 07/30/2013
16 WQCH234 TRANSOCEANIC CABLE SHIP COMPANY DEPOT 0012597415 IG Active 03/02/2015
17 WQHB503 Berlin Steel Inc. 0016494049 IG Active 06/19/2017

At PopularWireless we don’t know any IG coordinators or what their guidelines are regarding assignments on these channels aside from any footnotes in FCC R&R 90.350. We just know that according to 90.350:

(12) This frequency may not be used aboard aircraft in flight.
(47) This frequency may be used for mobile operation for remote control and telemetering functions. A1D, A2D, F1D, or F2D emission may be authorized. The use of the continuous carrier transmit mode for these purposes is permitted only for stations authorized and continuously licensed since before May 21, 1971.
(60)(i) This frequency is available for voice or non-voice communications concerned with cargo handling from a dock or cargo handling facility, a vessel alongside the dock, or cargo handling facility. The effective radiated power (ERP) shall not exceed 2 watts. Mobile relay stations may be temporarily installed on vessels located at or in the vicinity of a dock or
cargo handling facility. The center of the radiating system of the mobile relay shall be located no more than 3 meters (10 feet) above the vessel’s highest working dock.

(ii) This frequency is also available for low power non-cargo handling operations, both voice and non-voice, on a secondary basis to cargo handling communications. Such operations are not subject to the power limitations in paragraph (c)(60)(i) of this section on the following frequencies: 457.525 MHz, 457.550 MHz, 457.5625 MHz, 457.575 MHz, 457.5875 MHz, 457.600 MHz, and 457.6125 MHz. This frequency will not be assigned for non-cargo handling operations at temporary locations.

(iii) For mobile relay operations under paragraph (c)(60)(i) of this section, frequency pairing is as follows:
Mobile relay (MHz)^1 Mobile (MHz)
457.525 467.750
457.53125 467.75625
457.5375 467.7625
457.54375 467.76875
457.550 467.775
457.55625 467.78125
457.5625 467.7875
457.56875 467.79375
457.575 467.800
457.58125 467.80625
457.5875 467.8125
457.59375 467.81875
457.600 467.825
457.60625 467.83125
457.6125
457.61875
The mobile relay frequencies may also be used for single frequency simplex.

Interestingly we note that this channel is allocated to cargo handling. Our International treaty does not specific 457.550 as one of the two channels allowed for use in the USA by the NTIA. PopularWireless wonders if the FCC expects ships to use the channel anyway and why the specifics associated with cargo handling are included for this and other frequencies?

The magazine would like to hear from coordinators responsible for coordinating business users on this channel. Fill us in. What are the rules? Here is a partial lists of frequencies that may be found on international vessels. Bold channels are GMRS channels.:

* Channel A: 467.525
* Channel B: 467.550*
* Channel C: 467.575*
* Channel D: 457.525(1)
* Channel E: 457.550
* Channel F: 457.575(1)
* Channel G: 467.525 457.525 T/R
* Channel H: 467.550* 457.550 T/R
* Channel J: 467.575* 457.575 T/R

* Additional Channels used on UK Ships : 457.5375  457.5625 467.5375 (Unoccupied GMRS band-edge channel in US)
* 467.5625 (FRS channel 8 in US)

The Republic of the Marshall Islands alerted their ship personnel in writing about Foreign Shipping Interference. The FCC is at work behind the scenes. This public document was found on the Internet. It is a WORD document. Link in the FSI links on this page.

————————————————————–

MARINE SAFETY ADVISORY NO. 34-06

The following was provided by the Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communication Commission, District Director, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has received complaints that foreign flag ships in United States ports are using radio transmitting equipment on frequencies between 462.550 MHz and 467.725 MHz. In the United States these frequencies are authorized for licensed land mobile radio users in the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). To avoid causing interference to radio users licensed in the U.S., ships should avoid using these frequencies in U.S. waters.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) addresses this issue in the ITU Rules and Regulations with the following note: “5.288: In the territorial waters of the United States and the Philippines, the preferred frequencies for use by on-board communication stations shall be 457.525 MHz, 457.550 MHz, 457.575 MHz and 457.600 MHz paired, respectively, with 467.750 MHz, 467.775 MHz, 467.800 MHz and 467.825 MHz. The characteristics of the equipment used shall conform to those specified in Recommendation ITU-R M.1174.”

Foreign ships in U.S. territorial waters should use the preferred frequencies listed above and avoid using the frequency range from 462.550 MHz to 467.725 MHz.

Is the Personal Radio Association having an impact on Foreign Shipping Interference? We can only hope. On Sunday evening, September 1, 2007 at about 1856 hrs EDST the receiver at PopWireless HQ logged and recorded a radio transmission on 467.550 MHz. This is a frequency allocated to ships in other countries and is specifically not for use by these ships in the United States. Did they know that? A ship’s crewman asked the Boson to turn off his walkie talkie just as the ship began to pass PopularWireless HQ. (Hear the audio clip.)

The PRA FSI log contained the following entry, in part:

A number of ships passing close together this afternoon:

Liberia Niteroi, mmsi: 212105000 call sign P3MJ9, registered to Cyprus sailing to Newport News

The Texas, mmsi: 267594000, call sign LMWR3, from Norway. I think this is the ship just based on the accents of the sailors. That and my five element Yagi got a great signal pointed directly at the ship.

M/V Morning Melody, mmsi: 354047000, call sign 3EGS6, out of Panama

—————————————————

All were quiet as they sailed by and on at least one ship the Boson’s walkie talkie was off.

Perhaps this is why I never recall hearing an Australian registered vessel on US General Mobile Radio Service channels while the ship is in US waters. Even the FCC regulations are not this precise. Thank you Australia!

This paragraph is taken from Australian radio regulations: (Word file)

2.5 Operation outside Australia

(1) The licensee of a maritime ship station operating outside the territorial sea of Australia must operate the station in accordance with:

(a) the Radio Regulations; and

(b) if the station is in the territorial sea of another country — the radiocommunications requirements of the country.

(2) If a maritime ship station is to be operated outside Australia on a frequency specified in the Manual for use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services, published by the International Telecommunication Union and as in force from time to time, the licensee must only operate the station to communicate with one of the following stations:

(a) a coast station operated in another country;

(b) a coast earth station operated in another country;

(Huntingtown, MD) It is possible to identify an in-transit ship as the most likely source of FSI (Foreign Shipping Interference) in the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service.) Using an AIS – Automatic Identification System receiver and a directional antenna the signal from ship’s AIS transponder will tell you the ship’s name, it’s ITU MMSI registration, call sign, country of registration and destination. Using the MMSI look up at the ITU you can determine what company owns the ship.

On the Chesapeake Bay near Plum Point, MD the PopularWireless AIS receiver has so far identified three ships using GMRS channels while in US waters. Vessels from Norway, Vanuatu, and Singapore are currently on the Foreign Shipping Interference Log. The Norwegian vessel was docked and easily identified with a directional Yagi antenna at some twelve miles distant. The ships from Vanuatu and Singapore passed PopularWireless on the Chesapeake Bay and each was followed with the directional antenna as they sailed by.

The requirements are pretty simple but there is an investment in equipment. The first AIS receiver was an ICOM IC-R8500 receiver. A wide variety of inexpensive scanner receivers can be used as long as the one selected can be modified to take audio directly from the radio discriminator. The receiver was changed that to an SR-161 AIS receiver purchased for $189 from Milltech Marine. The power requirements are very low. An older three-amp power supply was used successfully. The antenna is a VHF antenna with LMR400 cable at about 60 feet above sea level and of course the higher the better. Use good low-loss feed line. The SR-161 serial data from is connected to a computer with Ship Plotter software installed. The switch to serial data from an audio feed to the sound card restored another analog audio input on the computer used for recording ship transmissions on the unauthorized channels also via the ICOM R-8500. The ShipPlotter software is about $30. The payment is processed in Europe so the price is up and down a bit based on the current exchange rate.

Using the ShipPlotter software you can super impose the ship on marine navigation charts or photographs from Google Earth. It is possible to zoom in on a chart to determine where a ship is berthed or moored. A bearing from the chart to your location can be compared to the bearing determined from the directional antenna. ShipPlotter has an active Yahoo Group where the program author and active users provide some support for users of the software. It is even possible for a group of licensees to create their own server and share local data using this product.

Now if you don’t have the cash to purchase an AIS receiver you can purchase the AIS software at Shipplotter.com and watch the feeds from various ports around the United States. There are many ShipPlotter users sending regular data on many US ports that a GMRS licensee could use to help identify Foreign Shipping Interference from a ship illegally using GMRS channels in US waters. Ports in Delaware, Virginia, Texas, California, Washington, and even the Great Lakes are covered. Licensees will also find that many other websites that display AIS ship data on line. Another good one is ShipPlotting.com.

Once the name and owner of the ship is known the GMRS licensee can attempt to contact the ship owner directly by email or mail. My first attempt to contact a ship owner in Singapore was unsuccessful. This did not surprise me given the lack of cooperation from ship’s Captains I have encountered on both coasts. Should the licensee be unsuccessful, a Personal Radio Association GMRS Interference form can be completed (available at PRAWEB.ORG) and sent to the FCC GMRS address in Gettysburg (See Part 95) directly or through the PRA along with the AIS data and the directional methods used to verify the source of the radio signals was the ship in question.

Licensees curious what ships are in or around the area of Southern Maryland can check the AIS Map of the Chesapeake Bay generated at PopularWireless HQ through the courtesy of Shipplotter AIS software and unique scripts written by Shipplotting.com.

At PopularWireless two ICOM-R8500’s and one RadioShack PRO-2006 monitor GMRS, FRS, and international shipping frequencies to assist in the identification of FSI. On any complaint audio files can be recorded and sent to the offending company as evidence. All three scanners are controlled by Spectrum Manager, a ScanStar product. Spectrum Manager is an outstanding product and is very useful for this purpose. A PC audio card conversion to the M-Audio Delta 1010LT purchased from SweetWater will allow recording up to eight computer controlled radio receivers.

(Huntingtown, MD 051107) It was only a matter of time. Late in the evening of 5/11/07 a foreign ship off loading liquid natural gas at the local LNG facility appeared on the input of GMRS repeater KAF9830 located at PopularWireless and PRA HQ, the home of PopWireless Editor and PRA Board of Trustee’s President Doug Smith. The ship was operating on 467.650 MHz, a frequency not authorized for use or even suggested for use in the USA by ships from other countries.

A call to the on-duty security officer at the LNG facility succeeded in the ship moving to 467.600 MHz. That frequency is also not mentioned in any foreign treaty as authorized for use in the United States. Another follow-up call to the security officer moved the ship to 467.675 MHz which caused no end of grief for a GMRS repeater believed to be in Pennsylvania.

This particular night, tropospheric ducting was evident. The transmissions from the ship, using CTCSS encoding, brought up a repeater hundreds of miles away. An unidentified operator of the victim repeater using only a made up three-digit unit number, (output 462.675) repeatedly demanded the identification of the ship’s radio operator who could not hear the enraged repeater operator. Interestingly, this repeater is one that is so far unidentified. The same operators are routinely heard during tropospheric ducting events failing to identify with GMRS call signs. It was odd that one potentially unlicensed operator/intruder was demanding the credentials of another!

The captain of the vessel registered on the Isle of Man and staffed by a UK crew claimed not to have the 457.525 MHz and 457.575 MHz treaty channels required for use in the United States. Our NTIA regulations require visiting ships to use those two 457 MHz frequencies and NOT the GMRS frequencies. “Should the ship indeed not have the required US operating channels – well that opens up a whole new can of worms. What do we do then?” said Doug Smith, owner of the Huntingtown, MD GMRS repeater.

The LNG facility is conducting an inquiry and Riley Hollingsworth was notified by email. The PRA knows the name of the ship and will ask the FCC to write the shipping company upon conclusion of the LNG facility investigation. That facility remained steadfast in its support of the local GMRS community. The PRA and Popular Wireless Magazine are dumbfounded that the promised assistance of the Coast Guard is having no apparent effect on the problem in ANY US port. “We never saw a copy of the completed inter-agency memo. We just understood specific text was prepared for such a memo, to be sent as directed by Kris Montieth Chief of the FCC Enforcement Bureau. The FCC decided late in 2006 to no longer make certain enforcement letters and memorandum public,” smith said.

The acronym FSI was coined at PopularWireless Magazine to mean Foreign Shipping Interference or GMRS radio interference from foreign vessels improperly using GMRS repeater input or output channels while in US waters.

(Huntingtown, MD) – Despite continued attention to the problem by the PRA, and even an inter-agency memo from the FCC to the Coast Guard in October 2006 as a result of the PRA pushing back on the FCC, GMRS piracy remains a serious problem on the Chesapeake Bay.

In the first week of May 2007 foreign ships were heard operating on 467.600, 467.675, 467.550, and 467.575. Add this activity up with the crane operator in Dorchester County, MD illegally using 467.725 for crane/tower operations and you have one hell of a mess. Local repeater owner Larry Norris, KAE4617 regularly has vessel audio sneaking through squelch tails on his 462.575 system in Leonardtown, MD.

Only a very small part of the problem remains under control. One local industrial port managed by Dominion Inc. routinely works with local licensees to mitigate interference from ships docked at their facility. Dominion takes facility security and community security very seriously. Local licensees appreciate Dominion’s continued responsiveness. In today’s world getting and keeping the attention of a big company on a local problem is not always easy. Dominion remains a great neighbor.

FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth, at the direction of Kris Montieth FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief wrote the Coast Guard an inter-agency memo asking Coast Guard’s help in this matter. To date on the Chesapeake Bay between Plum Point and the Port of Baltimore the Coast Guard memo has had no apparent effect. A local source close to this problem said that as of January 2007 the local Coast Guard officer that routinely boards visiting vessels was completely unaware of any FCC communication regarding this issue. That was pointed out to the FCC.

PopularWireless does know that ITU Regulations clearly state that governments have the RIGHT to specify which radio frequencies are used by foreign ships visiting their ports. In the United States our NTIA specifies those frequencies as 457.525 and 457.575 MHz. Those same ITU regulations clearly state that foreign ships may NOT interfere with communications when visiting foreign ports and must identify their transmitters. Not one ship this weekend has identified with a call sign and none of them is doing their part to avoid interference to GMRS repeater operations in Southern Maryland. We do have to be fair to some boat captains. PRA monitoring of the above 457 MHz treaty frequencies does indicate some ships are using the allowed channels. Some ships however use those as well as channels in the GMRS.

Nationwide this has been a problem for twenty plus years. It was first written about at this magazine in the year 2000. (See the previous link for information updated in 2007.) The Personal Radio Association, Inc. still wants to hear from every victim of foreign shipping interference – FSI. In late 2006 a repeater owner in the New Orleans, LA area filed a PRA complaint against a prominent cruise line that used 467.575 in port causing severe interference to his repeater. While we have not seen a copy of the letter, Riley Hollingsworth told the PRA Enforcement Team that a letter was sent to the cruise line. Hollingsworth also said in emails to the PRA that letters were going out to various ports, Pilot associations, and addresses of foreign shipping associations that had already responded to the PRA in 2005.

Obtaining the cooperation of shipping companies, boat captains, and boat radio officers has not been easy. Routinely, attempts to communicate with vessels on the air are ignored. Sometimes the ships change frequencies but often they just change to another GMRS input. In Maryland the company that has had the greatest influence is again Dominion.

It remains a busy weekend on GMRS repeater inputs in Southern Maryland and the activity is not that of GMRS licensees. Along the Chesapeake, pirates rule the waves. Why this piracy problem is a homeland security issue with a private energy company and not with our national government remains a mystery.