Hello Eunice,   There was discussion of that on here not so long ago. Have a look here in the Archives at posts headed "overdue ship Eliza": http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/Mariners/2011-02   Regards, Adi --- On Wed, 8/17/11, Eunice Donovan <eunice.donovan@bigpond.com> wrote:  In the articles you've sent me, do you know what the phrase "vessels spoken with" means?  Was there some kind of communication between vessels as they passed each other?  Or is it a more official kind of speaking-to?