As we approached Soufriere from Bequia today we had a container ship "Tropic Unity" approaching from our starboard aft quarter. I called the ship on 16 and they responded - Tropic unity this is Grainne - we are the sailboat on your port bow - what are your intentions? Several radio transmissions later we were forced to change course to avoid a collision. Throughout this conversation the "Tropic Unity" kept replying to the sailboat on his starboard bow! There was no sailboat on his starboard bow! We are convinced that the person at the helm was confused as to port and starboard. I called them back on the radio and asked the helmsman if he understood port and starboard but got no response! From the dialect of the person that I was speaking with he was not US, not a Caribbean Islander, was probably from the Pacific Island Nation of the Philippines! No excuse - just a very scary encounter - glad is was during the day!
Bobby: I am sure we, USA, does not own or run any major ships as we have sold them all off and they are all run by no-US captains. So a confusion on port-starboard I can agree with. I bet they had no clue!
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