OnBoard Inbox: Thanks from MCTS, Sidney

Aug 8, 2024

I have been meaning to pass on our thanks for some time and wanted to take the opportunity today. We have been enjoying our subscription of Canadian Boating at the MCTS Station here in Sidney, BC for the past several years and wanted you to know that it is much appreciated. 

MCTS stands for Marine Communication and Traffic Services.

At our station we offer Coast Guard Radio and Vessel Traffic Services for an area covering all of the east coast of Vancouver Island and Vancouver Harbour including Howe Sound and Indian Arm in Burrard Inlet.

On the Coast Guard Radio side of our job, we mostly assist pleasure craft who have all sorts of differing levels of experience on the water. Typically, we help them with communication relays with the Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria and provide broadcasts for help when assistance is needed for such matters as simple break downs to being lost or disoriented in reduced visibility to major events such as groundings, sinkings and fires. Less frequently, we manage commercial incidents ranging from simple break downs for maintenance to major incidents involving vessels ranging from commercial fishing vessels to large merchant freighters and tankers.

On the VTS side of our job we handle all communications and traffic advisory services for all commercial vessels over 20 meters and pleasure craft over 30 meters. Typical participants are tug and tows on voyages from Seattle to Alaska and everything In between up to large tankers loaded with crude oil from the Trans Mountain Pipeline.  We assist those vessels as they navigate through Fist and Second Narrows in Vancouver harbour on their way out to sea.

We have a number of new employees here at the station and the informative articles are a great help in deepening our knowledge of the marine industry and in particular the pleasure craft that we deal with every day.

Best regards,