Radio Operator

The Radio Operator[RO] will control all movements of the helicopters, passengers and freight. He or she will also communicate with shipping in the area. 

With modern advances in electronic technology, satellite communication, and computers, the radio officer (formerly known as radio operators) are going the way of the Do-Do Bird into extinction. Modern ships comply with GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress) communication standards, which no longer require that a radio officer is aboard all ships when they sail.They have been replaced by satellite receivers on the bridge of the ship. Modern ships have satellite links with the home office, and can summon help at the push of a button. Their position can be pinpointed at almost any time via satellite. The captain and other officers can be bombarded with email daily, just like their counterparts ashore. They can fax payroll data and have their overtime work approved on a daily basis.

Radio operators first appeared on ships about 90 years ago. David Sarnoff (RCA) and Marconi were earlier pioneers in the radio industry. They put the equipment aboard ships on a lease basis, and provided their own operators as part of the lease. The radio officer was not really a member of the crew, but an employee of the radio company. The transmitters were low frequency "spark gap" transmitters, that in effect sent out a crash of static over a broad band, and had limited range. Shore stations had to be manned and maintained in places like Cape Race, Cape Cod, and other remote sites close to the maritime traffic lanes. The movie "Titanic" accurately portrayed this method of communication, which was not drastically changed when I sailed. I would type a message on an RCA radio message blank, and give it to "Sparks" as the radio officer was called on all ships. Sparks would then fire up his transmitter on the frequency of one of the shore stations. The shore stations monitor certain frequencies for traffic, and the radio officer must experiment to find the "clearest" frequency. This required much preparation between shore-side and ship operators, lots of loud crashes of static and lots of Morse Code dots and dashes. After getting a good frequency, the message would be passed to the shore station, which in turn would telex of phone the recipient of the message.

Then the recipient would have to compose a reply, and telex the shore station, which in turn would put the ship's call letters on it's "traffic list". Sparks would have to monitor the "traffic lists" from a number of shore stations, where all ships that needed to receive messages had their call signs listed in alphabetical order. If a ship heard his call sign, the radio officer would then try to contact the shore station in order to get the "traffic." It was often a lengthy procedure, and seldom could you send out a query and get an answer back in the same day. The captain had to be trusted to conduct business with little input from the company.