The Marine Pilots' Community

This article describes the findings from two studies that utilised an integrated systems thinking framework to understand how pilots make decisions and what factors are perceived to influence their decisions.

We’re doing another day of testing with the self-propelled scale model of T-2000. Obviously the conditions here do comprehensively exceed the designs operational envelope, as in scale proportion to the model, the waves must be I guess around 10-20 metres in size. However it’s interesting to understand the designs ultimate limits. The model is built to a scale of fourteen to one, and this equals 20 metres in real life size. Later, by slowing down the video, so that it matches the speed of...

The average harbor pilot at the Port of Los Angeles makes $434,000 a year, but also faces a one in 20 chance of dying on the job, according to a book from The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims that was published in 2021.

On 30 March 2023, a fatal accident occurred in the North Sea near IJmuiden during a pilot transfer from the pilot boat to a seagoing vessel.

Following in a long line of ever more refined and very seaworthy vessels, this small example of a Safehaven pilot boat has been chosen for operations on and around Scotland’s Cromarty Firth.

Safehaven Marine is a well-known boat builder based in Ireland that specializes in the design and construction of pilot boats. The company has built a reputation for producing top-quality vessels that are reliable, durable, and safe in all weather conditions. Safehaven Marine has delivered 60 pilot boats worldwide, and its latest launch, the VB Mouna, is the latest addition to its impressive resume.

In this charterparty dispute, the arbitral tribunal rejected the Owners’ claim for damages for breach of the safe port warranty in a time charterparty, after a laden bulk carrier grounded at the entrance to the port of Chaozhou, China, while under compulsory pilotage. It also held that the vessel was unseaworthy, in breach of Article III.1 of the Hague Rules, due to lack of proper charts, but found on the facts that this was not causative of the grounding.

The Spring 2023 edition of the BPC Pilotage Quarterly is out now!

A Filipino crew member of a Capesize bulk carrier HELLASSHIP fell into water while trying to assist pilot boarding bulk carrier in rough weather, off Gijon, Spain.

The Tampa Bay pilot association has taken delivery of Tampa, a newly refitted Chesapeake Class pilot boat built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in 2003, when the Mass., shipyard introduced the class of mid-size, high-speed launches.

A containership arriving in Taiwan hit the berth after traveling in excess of the harbor speed according to reports from the port authority and Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau. They are confirming media reports that the pilot assigned to the vessel was legally intoxicated at the time of the incident.

The ETA Nautical Technical Committee has worked together with the European Maritime Pilots Association in order to define a series of recommendations for tugboat captains, pilots and harbour masters which will help them optimise the energy efficiency on the tugs and the assisted vessels during harbour towage operations. These recommendations are based on 3 main principles: Planning, Cooperation and Communication.