Voice of Unity

Voice of Unity was an offshore radio station that broadcast to the African continent from 1974-1996 from the former British fishing trawler MV Unity (formerly MV Rowland Prothero), anchored in international waters off the coast of 's. Founded by South African twin business partners Aitan and Bram Hanekom and the -based Unity Radio Corporation, the station broadcast almost continuously between May 25, 1974 and August 8, 1996.

History
The aim of the Voice of Unity was to communicate peaceful co-existence and racial harmony to the African continent, especially in -ruled. The output was popular music presented by a ethnically diverse team of British and American DJs broadcasting live from the ship. The main on-air studio consisted of a Gates Diplomat mixer, Technics SL-1200 turntables, Sony CD Players, and Gates NAB cartridge machines, on which the jingles and commercials were played. The second studio, for production, had a Gates turntable, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and an NAB cartridge recording unit.

The Voice of Unity was Africa's first offshore radio station. The station's American PAMS and JAM Productions jingles, English-speaking DJs, and Top 40 hits attracted many advertisers. Initially, the station transmitted on 279 AM longwave and 530 AM medium wave. In 1980, the station added a signal at 87.7 FM.