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Member Report Access
Vessel Enrollment Access

Marine Operations

OUR STAFF IS THERE 24/7 365

Vessels and their agents are able to utilize the services of the Exchange by paying a ‘Vessel Reporting Fee’ for each vessel’s arrival. These services provided by the Exchange include:

Vessel Tracking

  • 24/7 ship movement information
  • Real Time tracking of vessel movement between Astoria and Portland
  • 96-hour advance notification of ship arrival and departures

Regulatory Compliance

  • Submit electronic filing of required documents for regional, state and federal agencies
  • Interact with government agencies to implement efficient procedures and processes
  • Monitor government regulations and initiatives from an operational perspective

Vessel Communications & Services

  • Data capture, database maintenance and archiving
  • Access to all vessel information
  • Set up call jobs
  • Calling with leave-up and river times
  • Knowing who to call for movements
  • Maintaining weekend duty lists

Membership Dues & Services

Choose the Best Plan

Check out our Basic to Complete Member Rate Plans. Additionally, find out more information about other fees. 

Click Here for Rates & Fees

Become a Member

Apply Today

The Exchange serves as a hub for local industry social and political networking activities as well as a hub of vessel information.

Learn More

Contact Us

Marine Operations Manager

Carl Bertapelle (503) 220-2090
Email Carl

Email the Marine Room
Video Featuring Marine Operations Services

Vessel Intelligence

Membership in the Exchange can provide operations and chartering departments access to real-time port activity and berth congestion intelligence. This will enable more informed decision making on the management of your vessel during a port call on the Columbia River.

Reports available include:

  • 4 Day Lightship Report – This report shows all expected vessel arrivals for the next 4 days.
  • Vessel Activity Report – This report shows all vessel activity (arrivals/moves/departures) for a given day.
  • Vessels by Location Report – This report lists all vessels currently in port.

Vessel Communications

  • Act as liaison, information hub
  • Answering vessel related questions from vendors, suppliers, crew etc.
  • Relay information to/from vessel
  • Maintain VHF radio coverage for Columbia river
  • Access to radio patches
  • Potential problem notification

Other Services

  • Services can include transcription of voice calls or messages
  • Relay information in desired format for email or fax
  • Shore to ship and ship to shore satellite communications services
  • Rental of mobile devices for day, week or long-term use

Communications

Radio (VHF Links) The Merchants Exchange manages a VHF radio system designed for communication on both the Columbia River and Willamette River. The range of this radio system is from out to sea in Astoria, OR to the I-205 Bridge on the Columbia River, and from the confluence of the Willamette River to the Ross Island Bridge in Portland, OR. We offer marine channel radio communications 24 hours a day 7 days a week including:
    • Phone patches via VHF channel 18-A
    • Monitoring channel 16 (emergency channel)
    • Channel 11, 13, 14 and 81 (these channels are not monitored)

Answering Service

A complete 24 hours, 7 days a week, manned answering service is provided by our Marine Operations (MarOps) department. We offer an after-hours and weekend call service with established guidelines from the customer.

With its vessel tracking and AIS systems, our staff monitors ship movement and can provide information to members at any time regarding their vessels on the Columbia River. Direct connection with radio patching to vessels transiting the Columbia River is also available.

The answering service is available to any customer worldwide.

To learn more about our services, click here.