Product

Diligent Pilotage: Lessons Learned from the Jolly Nero

627 -

On 7 May 2013 at 22:59 the cargo ship Jolly Nero, following a failure of its main engine, hit the Pilots' Tower of the port of Genoa at a speed of about 3 knots, causing it to collapse.

The accident cost the lives of nine people and resulted in the criminal conviction of the Jolly Nero's Captain, Chief Engineer and First Officer.

It is one of those rare events that, because of its catastrophic consequences, lay bare the operations of the entire sociotechnical system in which it occurs, creating a window of opportunity for improving safety.
This book is written in the hope that the lessons learned from the Jolly Nero will lead pilotage organisations, shipping companies and port authorities to exercise due diligence with the aim of preventing accidents and withstanding the increasing level of scrutiny of courts of law.

The tragic loss of lives in the rubble of the Genoa Pilots' Tower will have been in vain if what happened on that evening does not result in improvements to safety of navigation in confined waters.
We all have a duty and need to learn from the Jolly Nero accident, and work towards a diligent pilotage.
What's your opinion on this?
Login or register to write comments and join the discussion!
Read more...

Article Helmsman and pilots were operating with different goals

published on 22 April 2025

An ATSB interim report outlines the sequence of events leading to the collision between the container vessel Maersk Shekou and the berthed tall ship STS Leeuwin II in Fremantle on 30 August 2024.

1

Video Maritime Pilot Training III - Man overboard manoeuvre

published on 12 May 2021

Training video III on the correct behaviour in case of man overboard

0

Article Pilot Walter del Río: "I work 24 hours and book the next four days".

published on 19 October 2021

Experiences of a Pilot: The port's chief pilot talks about his work, "what we do is not well known in the city", and about the risk they run, "on a bad day we can get scared", he says.

1

Article The First Ship Equipped To Utilize Future Fairway Services Tested At Port Of Kokkola

published on 19 May 2022

The first ship equipped with the technology of future fairway services was directed from the Port of Kokkola to the fairway on Wednesday. At the same time, the suitability of the technical arrangements for remote piloting was tested. The systems were used in parallel with normal pilotage.

2

Video Abeking & Rasmussen SWATH Technology

published on 3 June 2020

Abeking Rasmussen
The shipyard has been developing and building ships for navies, coastguards, the public sector, ship operators and private customers since 1907. In addition to sailing- and motoryachts, current products include minesweepers and --hunters, patrol boats plus special ships like research and supply ships for the offshore industry.
With SWATH@A&R technology Abeking & Rasmussen developed a type of ship with exceptional seakeeping capabilities that provides a stable working...

0

Opinion Pilot transfer arrangements - Sharing knowledge matters – but problems go beyond non-compliance to SOLAS itself

by Kevin Vallance deep sea pilot and author - published on 23 September 2020

Like many seafarers I have long been a keen follower of The Nautical Institute’s MARS programme, and along with many other members I listened to the recent webinar on that topic. One theme which was repeated more than once was that it is better to learn from someone else’s misfortune rather than have it happen to you. Having personally been involved in two near misses resulting from unsafe pilot transfer arrangements in a relatively short space of time, I asked how experiences and knowledge specifically about pilot ladder safety could best be promulgated to avoid repeating common accidents or near misses.

1

Opinion Accidents: Prevent or react

by Steven Detre (Saab Technology) - published on 25 November 2022

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

1

Opinion Maritime Pilotage - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

by André Gaillard - published on 17 February 2021

In this article Marine Pilot André Gaillard gives us his vision of the maritime pilotage profession of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

2

Video Ns345 W6D2 Ship Interactions and Bank Effects

published on 13 October 2020

Shiphandling discussion about meeting and overtaking situations in a close quarters situation where hydrodynamic effects will come into play between ships. The lecture continues and discusses Bank Effect.

0