Recognizing a Ship Horn
Photo courtesy of http://www.pbase.com
Have you wondered what the different ship horn meant? When approaching or leaving a dock, coming close to another ship, or entering a narrow channel, ships blow their horn or whistle to signal something to the port or to other ships. And if the signal goes out to another ship nearby, that ship has to respond by also blowing the same horn or whistle to indicate that she understood the first ship’s intentions. You may notice when you’re in a port that the ships ensue a deafening horn battle of some kind, but the truth is they’re not just competing who can honk the loudest. They are communicating.
Different ship horn meaning
The ship horn meaning is the same throughout the world as set by the International Maritime Organization, Collision Avoidance at Sea Regulations. And the organization set two pulses of ship horn: short blast, which is about a second duration, and prolonged blast, which is about 4 to 6 seconds duration.
Here are the meanings of ship horn when two ships are approaching within close range:
One short blast – “I am changing course to starboard.”
Two short blasts – “I am changing course to port.”
Two prolonged blasts and one short blast – “I intend to overtake you on your starboard side.”
Two prolonged blasts and two short blasts – “I intend to overtake you on your port side.”
And the overtaken ship is expected to reply with one prolonged blast, one short, another prolonged blast and another short in exact order.
ship horn when departing
Photo courtesy of http://fourfiveandunder.blogspot.com
When a ship is leaving port, it makes ship horn signals too that the closest ship has to respond copying the ship horn signal. Before departure, the ship will signal to the closest ship as to what side is she leaving.
One short blast – “I intend to leave you on my port side.”
Two short blasts – “I intend to leave you on my starboard side.”
And as the ship starts her engine, she lets out three prolonged blasts to tell the other ships that she’s operating astern propulsion.
ship horn battle
Photo courtesy of http://www.startedbyamouse.com
Because the closest ship has to respond to the ship horn signal copying the same or responding with another signal, two ships coming close or at port seem to instigate a ship horn battle. The best ship horn battle you could ever experience is when a Disney Cruise Line is around. When the two ships are in an agreement and they’re both out of danger, the Disney Cruise Line lets out her ID ship horn to the tune of “When you wish upon a star”! The moment is magical to say the least.
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- The USS Hornet (CV-12)
- What Happens to Old Ships
- Model Ships for Testing and for Collecting
- Working in U.S. Nuclear Military Ships
- The Three Christopher Columbus Ships
