SOS: Radio Officers needed in the satcom era?

Is there the possibility that the long-defunct position of radio officer might come back in this age of computerization and satellite communications?

The last time anyone saw a ship's radio officer was probably during the 'Titanic' movie, which got re-released in 3D format quite recently. The ill-fated ship's two radio officers, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, kept sending emergency and SOS signals up until the radio shack got flooded.

A radio officer, by the way, was an employee of a radio company like Marconi or RCA, who handled radio equipment leased to ships. Also called radio operators, they were considered outsiders by the crew, who called them "Sparks" because their early radio transmitters were crude, low-frequency "spark gap" transmitters.

For decades, radio officer and their transmitters were almost the only means a ship had to maintain communication with shore or other ships. "Sparks" and his brethren handled all communication to and from the ship. He also monitored VHF conversations that were used in bridge-to-bridge communications. He even the use of the ship's radar, because radar used radio pulses. So radar operators had to log their uses in the radio log for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC,) which mandated that all radio communications be recorded.

In fact, a radio officer was so important that regulations forbade a ship from sailing without one. This led to at least one incident of a radio officer who would leave the ship right before it was ready to sail. The mischievous officer would then listen to the ship's crew beg him to return, and wait until he was satisfied with their show of obeisance before returning to his radio shack.

But the proliferation of computers and other electronic technology -especially satellite communications gear- has rendered the radio officer position superfluous. Satellite and broadband communications equipment allow a modern-day ship to easily maintain clear contact with shore. And computer automation could perform the radio officer's many myriad tasks faster and more accurately.

So it was an irony that, during June's GVF Conference on Broadband Maritime in London, a conference participant thought that the defunct position of radio officer still existed. (Perhaps that person could be forgiven; the 3D re-release of 'Titanic' was quite popular.)

Previously, two presenters for major maritime companies had complained that their VSAT systems did not work as advertised. The first presenter, Demetris Makaritis, Fleet Manager, Navigator Gas, said that his VSAT systems didn't work more often than not. He found out that the VSAT systems procured by his company were not compatible with the requirements of his business.

The second presenter, Kaushik Roy, DPA and Company Security Officer for MOL LNG, complained that VSAT was not only unreliable, but also that he couldn't contact the ship if the crew was using the entirety of the ship's VSAT and Fleet Broadband capacity. The solution: Traffic prioritization. The new problem? The MOL LNG crew apparently did not know how to prioritize traffic.

The aforementioned conference participant expressed his curiosity on why the radio officer was not involved in the VSAT purchase. The participant presumed that the radio officer would know the technical requirements for a ship's communication needs. Kuba Szymanski of Intermanager had to inform the participant that radio officers were essentially as extinct as the dinosaurs.

Satellite Markets & Research writer Eliisabeth Tweedie, who covered the GVF Conference on Broadband Maritime, proposed that satcom vendors consider recruiting retired radio officers as advisors. She noted that the conference covered cases where vendors apparently did not understand the unique needs of their customers, who in turn didn't understand the capabilities -and limitations- of satellite communications.

Radio officers  made a living on organizing and ensuring maritime communications during an age when a single missed message might mean "Iceberg, straight ahead!" They can advise vendors and buyers alike about the basic principles of ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications, like traffic prioritization. "Sparks" and company might not understand what SkyNet is made of, but they know what those newfangled computers do. That used to be their job; it used to be an art.