Radio Officers on Ships

[j.sabourn]

Looking at my records the last R/O I sailed with was in 1982 and this was on a vessel on a MOD charter. The only other one was on a Russian ship in 1998. The Russian vessel was only because the Russian crew were allowed to stay onboard on agreement twix Russian /Australian governments and the Charterer. The Australian crew consisted
of 9 including myself , the Russian crew 22 including 3 female staff . It was like going back in time, There were also about 15 surveyors on board , as the medicine locker was all labelled in Russian I insisted on taking our own medical man with us who I had to produce. The Russian sparks I never saw much off dont know what he did .
Surely today Passenger ships carry Radio people or do they ?
I have done all types of voyages up until 2002 and never saw a sparks only what I have said , Have always had
the Radio Telephone certificates only. Cheers JS

[Doc Vernon]

Todays Modern Ships have Radio Officers and have various duties, a lot different from the old days, but in aspect still doing the same Job.

The main responsibility of the radio officers is to maintain the radio room in the ship. Other duties involve:Maintaining radio devices like radiotelegraph and radiotelephone to send and receive messagesMonitor the ship’s progress, emergency situations, distress calls and communicate them to headquarters.

• Run the system generator on, and has to operate switches related to antennas and radars effectively
• Code and decode messages as per the instructions provided

Radio officers are always on their toes monitoring every aspects of the shipping voyage. These officers can easily repair damages happening to the radar system. Like every other marine employee they have to stay on ship for maximum part of their work life.
Qualification Required to Become Radio Officers
To apply for the post of radio officer you require a university degree and a maritime diploma certificate from any recognized institute. A secondary electrical engineering knowledge is required so that small repairs could be carried out in case of faulty radar systems or signal set breakages. Besides a good knowledge of English is a must for all the radio officer job applicants. If you want to apply for a job you should be physically fit and have to clear the written tests and physical fitness test conducted by the authorities. Once selected all the radio officers undergo a mandatory practical training before being inducted into the ship.

[j.sabourn]

well as I say I have not officially seen one since 1982 on any vessel apart from the one hidden away on the Ruski who was non producing during my stint there. when and where did one sail with such after that date ? Cheers JS

[Graham Shaw]

JS # 3. "Sparkies".
My last year at sea was 1990 on Dual Purpose Cargo/Container ships .and we still carried R/0's then with the older styled PMG Class 1 and 2 Certs or the newer Marine Radio Gen.Cert,if I recall it's title correctly. It was later that the GMDSS doodah thing came in. So by 1990,the old Sparks were a dying breed. Surely we've got a Sparks or two on here to chip in on this thread !

My only real contribution to the marine airwaves was having to gain a Restricted Radiotelephone Cert, compulsory prior to gaining my 2nd Mates FG, as I know you must have had to hold one too JS with you working in the offshore sector,as did also many Home Trade guys.
I did mine at the specialist Radio dept. at Bristol Brunel Tech.College,which is now inevitably upgraded to Brunel Bristol Academy,naturally !
It was quite an intensive full 1 day course,with theory and practical all morning,more in the afternoon followed by an exam.We had an interesting group of candidates,FG and HT, the RNLI,Coast Guard Yachtmaster Course guys,one with his wife,prior to their round the world voyages,or for merely cruising up to the Western Isles ! Unfortunately I couldn't join in at the evening celebratory post exam pi55-up as I had to drive home prior to flying out to join a ship... 1975 ,seems like yesterday!

Thanks for Sparkies everywhere- for sending my Interflora blooms to my Mum or Aunty Vera ,or for sending our Football pools entry -- even though I resented your free time off in port !SOS.gif

[Keith Tindell]

I have the same basic certificate Graham, taken when i had my yacht master exam, thank goodness today for mobile phones, the useless chatter that filled the airwaves 20 years ago, discussing where to meet for lunch, how's the kids etc etc.i remember one link call from a RN ship to his wife, and what he intended doing when he got ashore, even the Niton Radio operated cut in and reminded him he was on open airwaves, kt

[Graham Shaw]

I have the same basic certificate Graham, taken when i had my yacht master exam, thank goodness today for mobile phones, the useless chatter that filled the airwaves 20 years ago, discussing where to meet for lunch, how's the kids etc etc.i remember one link call from a RN ship to his wife, and what he intended doing when he got ashore, even the Niton Radio operated cut in and reminded him he was on open airwaves, kt

Ha ha-yes that was a problem,if an often entertaining one. "Roger! Over and out! Christ love we're still on Channel 16 !"

[j.sabourn]

#4. Can’t say with certainty as at moment can’t find. The restricted one I remember and think after that came the General one which gave access to a higher wattage earth station. Then finally the GMDDS. Cheers JS
I know there were no sparkles for me after about 1982 because I was always complaining about it. life at sea just seemed to exist of taken more men away and increasing the workload on the few remaining and they have the nerve to espouse safety issues . JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

With modern technology I doubt if there would be a need for a radio officer as we knew them.
On cruise ships as far as I am aware there is no such rank.
Container shipos have so few crew now that i doubt they could afford the luxury of one.

[j.sabourn]

Yes there is a big difference between Radiotelephony and Radiotelegraphy , when most of us talk about radio officers we refer to the Radiotelegraphy and not phone operator. JS

However leaving communications alone and referring to the post my last trip to sea, I found at that era of time starting day 5 years previous to my departure in 2002 , the most advantageous certificate to have was a D.P. Certificate ( Dynamic Positioning ) and when working for a Malaysian company could have doubled my salary if had, this was due to the shortage of such. Today however may be different as they maybe more common in the scheme of things . JS

[j.sabourn]

#5 Years ago Keith I had cause to call up lands end Radio on the MF Radio due to delayed correspondence reaching me , and placing a call to 10 Downing Street to answer a query which simply needed A Yes or No reply. Apart from the Operator querying the addressee a couple of times he finally put me through. A female voice answered and myself being under some nervous pressure as I knew all ships in the area would be listening in only wanted to say the required yes or no. The voice only wanted to talk and in my agitation thinking it was Maggie herself so stopped me calling her a stupid C** as others were listening in .However it wasn’t her and after discussing the weather managed to end the call. People don’t realize that many people listen in on others on radio waves it is not the ideal means of communication , myself I prefer semaphore where anything over 5 miles one is reasonably save from eavesdroppers . Cheers JS