We used to think that having more than one VHF radio was a waste of space, weight, and money. But our thinking has changed.

When we are operating in crowded areas we always use two VHF radios. One is tuned to the local working channel for bridge to bridge ship communications and traffic control dialog, with a second radio on channel 16.

On Wind Horse we have a single fixed unit, and use one of our portables for the second (the portable is left on channel 16). If we were doing this today we’d fit two fixed VHF units.