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| Home >> General Information >> Communications |
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Various modes of voice, data and fax communications between ships and correspondents ashore are available. These change from time to time as improved technologies and more cost-effective service plans arise. We attempt to keep the following information current, but if in doubt please contact the Marine Facility (858-534-1641) or Shipboard Technical Support (858-534-0193). Email is available on a near real-time basis 24 hours per day and is the primary and preferred method of contact for business and personal purposes (see EMAIL below). |
| EMERGENCIES |
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In case of genuine emergencies and if other modes described below do not work, or do not work quickly enough for some reason, please phone: Nimitz Marine Facility:
858-534-1644 during regular workdays, 0800-1700 San Diego time In both cases the person answering the phone will be able to assist with contacting a ship, or will be able to reach other persons who can assist. Should your call not be answered, e.g. if the guard is out making rounds, please leave a message on the voice mail and the call will be dealt with as soon as possible. |
| EMAIL - FIRST CHOICE, COSTS, ADDRESSES, SYSTEMS |
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As noted above, email is the primary and preferred mode. Costs: Email is not free - every message, whether incoming or outgoing, generates a cost to the shipboard end of the correspondence. This cost can be quite reasonable, depending on the particular satellite link and system used, and our standard "free" allowance of $1/day/person is ample to cover moderate text message traffic (roughly 16 paragraphs) of the kind needed by most people. But email charges can build rapidly if email is used uncritically. Avoid large files, pictures and attachments, and use plain text messages where possible. Most shipboard users will set limits to the sizes of incoming messages to be received. Shipboard accounts are established for users; charges above the $1/day allowance will be collected postcruise by the Shipboard Computer Group. Cash, check or major credit card may be used. Addresses: In order to deter unwanted traffic and control costs we do not publish specific shipboard email addresses on web pages. They take the general form of rv-shipname.ucsd.edu where shipname is revelle, melville, newhorizon or sproul as appropriate. Preface this with username@ to form a complete address. Shore correspondents will learn username on incoming messages from correspondents at sea once accounts have been set up. If there is a need to learn a specific username in advance please consult with the seagoing correspondent, and/or with the Shipboard Computer Group (858-534-6054) as needed. For every ship, the name master will reach the ship's master and the username restech will reach the resident marine technician. On Revelle and Melville, the name scg will reach the onboard member of the Shipboard Computer Group. Systems: Email generally is transferred via the Inmarsat satellites using the Fleet 77 (F77) system. In standard operations the system remains on-line in data mode for near-real time transfer of messages. The system may be offline if the satellite-antenna path is blocked by superstructure, or if the system has been switched temporarily to voice or fax mode (infrequent). Messages will be queued during such outages and sent when connection is re-established. On Revelle and on Melville, a different system (ROADnet), using the Intelsat rather than Inmarsat satellites, allows online internet and email access, except when the satellite-antenna path is blocked. This service is more nearly "free" than F77 to users in the sense that a block purchase of satellite resource is made; there is no subsequent per-message or connect-time charge. As the system expands to other UNOLS ships a need and method for sharing the satellite resource between ships may emerge.
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| VOICE |
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Voice phones ring on the bridge. Be aware that the mate on watch may be unable to answer the phone if busy with other duties of higher priority. Even if answered, it may require time to locate the desired shipboard party. Common procedure is to take the name and number of the calling party ashore, end the call, and have the shipboard party call back subsequently, as soon as feasible. Satellite - Inmarsat: Be aware that costs for Inmarsat (Marlink) voice calls are considerable - $5-$10/minute with a 3-minute minimum. As noted above, these costs accrue to the shipboard party whether the call is incoming or outgoing. The bridge will log satellite calls and collect costs postcruise from shipboard parties to the calls, by cash, check or major credit card. To place an Inmarsat voice call from shore, dial the international access code (011 in the US) followed by a three-digit satellite identifier, followed by the ship number. 011 + Three digit satellite identifier (found below) + Ship Number (found below) Thus to call New Horizon in the Indian Ocean from the US, dial 011-873-330327320. Satellite identifiers are:
NOTE R/V Robert Gordon Sproul does not have an Inmarsat number, use Stratos; see information below. Satellite calls do not always go through on the first try; this does not necessarily indicate system failure. Cellular: Cell phones can sometimes work very close to coastal cell towers; individuals aboard are welcome to try to use their personal cell phones. SIO ships working in US nearshore waters often carry cell phones, but primarily for ship business and calls to shore/in port, not to receive calls from shore. If there is an urgent need to obtain the cell phone number for a ship, please inquire as under "EMERGENCIES" at the head of this document. |
| FAX |
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In addition to occasional failure to connect on the first try (see note above for VOICE calls) fax transmissions to/from ships are prone to mid-transmission failure, generally from short dropouts in the satellite-ship link. We encourage fax material to be recast as email text or, if that is not possible, to be scanned and sent as an email attachment. If a conventional fax is necessary, use the fax numbers indicated in the table under "VOICE" above, with the same international code and satellite identifier prefix. |
| IN PORT, SAN DIEGO |
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When at the Nimitz Marine Facility, ships are connected
to the regular UCSD land phone system. The numbers are 858-534- 1646: Melville These phones ring in the mess deck; there may or may
not be someone there to answer the call. Other useful San Diego numbers
are: R/P FLIP:
858-534-1650 (See also Contacts:
http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/shipsked/contacts/index.html
) |
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Ship Scheduling
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0210 Telephone: (858) 534-2840 Fax: (858) 822-5811 shipsked@ucsd.edu |
