Learning the lingo
Those who monitor Ship Channel traffic must navigate mariners’ diverse dialects on radio as they help ensure safe passage
T HE Coast Guard sent Wesley Felix to Houston and assigned him to a group monitoring vessel traffic on the Houston Ship Channel.
Memorizing docks, buoys and radio checkpoints proved relatively easy for the California native.
Figuring out the thick Cajun accents of mariners steering towboats and barges from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was another matter.
“I completely didn’t understand what they were saying, whatsoever,” he said.
From the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Vessel Traffic Service building at Ellington Airport, civilians and service members work side by side to monitor the busy Ship Channel with cameras, radar and the automatic identification system, or AIS, that ships use to share their location, vessel type, speed and route.
VTS workers are in constant
communication with a diverse group on the waterway to help provide safe navigation. Their duties include alerting mariners about when they’ll meet other vessels in the waterway or when a faster vessel will overtake them.
“A lot of these guys on the radio are used to talking to each other on the radio, and so they speak really fast,” said Lt. Jessica Flennoy, a VTS watch supervisor.
Felix, a Vessel Traffic Service specialist, eventually came to understand that “top and around” meant the mariner was turning around. And a certain string of syllables meant the mariner was aboard the Caroline Guidry, a particularly tricky boat name to catch over the radio.
“It does not sound like ‘Caroline Guidry,’ ” he said. “You just learn the grunt and know what they’re saying.”
There’s somewhat of a language barrier for those on the water, too. Towboat captains, for instance, can struggle with military jargon, said Jim Guidry, executive vice president of vessel operations for Houston-based Kirby Corp., the country’s largest operator of tank barges.
Guidry emphasized this isn’t a complication that would cause incidents or accidents. It’s just a quirk of the diverse maritime industry. A towboat captain from Louisiana might be speaking to a Russian ship captain and then a Coast Guard member from New York.
“Everybody’s speaking a common English language that no one understands,” he said. “Everybody gets used to it.”
Brownwater University, sponsored by the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association and the American Waterways Operators, helps bridge the divide. The 2½-day session is held in Houston at least once a year to bring together the towboat industry, Coast Guard and Houston Pilots. It’s an opportunity to meet each other in person and learn about the different workplaces.
“It’s been very successful,” said Jim Stark, president of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association, “and I think it goes a long way to building personal relationships.”
Petty Officer 3rd Class Joyce White, an operations specialist, checked into the VTS on Oct. 1 and, after more than two months of book work, put the radio headset on for the first time Dec. 14. Someone else listened in, too, to provide assistance.
White was nervous at first about putting her book knowledge to use, but she was feeling confident by Day 3. She didn’t look to her supervisor as often for assistance, and she felt better asking mariners to repeat themselves or spell out information with the military alphabet — Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.
For Felix, it took four to six months for the radio conversations to become second nature. He worked for the Vessel Traffic Service for four years as a member of the Coast Guard. He left the Coast Guard but was later hired back as a civilian.
Felix enjoys the work. And he’s proud of his role in keeping mariners safe and, ultimately, helping facilitate the economic impact spurred by the Ship Channel.
“It’s just a unique job,” he said. “Because of the importance of it, I feel good going home and feeling I did something for the community.”