On August 24th Coquitlam ARC and SEPAR (Surrey Emerg. Prog. Amateur Radio) members toured the Vancouver MCTS centre located downtown Vancouver on the 23rd floor of Harbour Centre building, 555 West Hastings.
The MCTS (Marine Communications and Traffic Services) centre consists of a Vessel Traffic, Supervisor and RMIC (Region Marine Information Centre) positions and normally a Radio and Safety position which has however at this time been remoted to Victoria MCTS in preparation of reducing the 5 present Pacific Region MCTS stations (Prince Rupert/Comox/Vancouver/Tofino/Victoria) down to 2 stations – Victoria and Prince Rupert MCTS in the future.
Vancouver MCTS at this time monitors the movement of marine traffic on VHF radio and radar and advises vessels of other traffic in its mandated area of responsibility and also provides navigational, safety and weather information broadcasts to mariners.
The tour was informative and operations were expertly described by the on duty MCTS Officer Bob Holoiday.
Webpage for Vancouver MCTS – http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/e0003905
The tour was organized by Brian Derksen.
Photos taken by B. Derksen and Fred Orsetti
Fred Orsetti/VE7IO, Marcy Liu/VE7JT, Ron Cunningham -former MCTS Officer, Brian Derksen VE7VBD
