the delay of more than a decade by australia in commencing to establish a network of coastal stations, meant that australia had failed to keep pace with the deployment of wireless fitouts on shipping. many shipping lines insisted that the capital and ongoing expense of wireless equipment would not be incurred until at least the high-powered stations in the coastal radio network had been established. but since these ships were often also operating in other regions where coastal stations existed, many ships proceeded with wireless regardless. as a result the large numbers of wireless equipped ships plying the australian coast at any given time in the early 1910s, meant that ships remote from ports could often relay messages through other ships closer to port, to give effect to communication upon its arrival.