New guidance for PBAs with trapdoors. Released 4.11.2020 by NZMPA

The next step for NZMPA is to issue a set of regulator-endorsed guidance notes. The first version will focus on accommodation ladders used in conjunction with pilot ladders.

ABP Southampton: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that some ships have a pilot transfer arrangement consisting of an accommodation ladder / pilot ladder combination with a trapdoor that does not meet IMO standards in effect since at least 2012.

On August 5, 2020 at approximately 10:30 pm, Sandy Hook Pilot Captain Timothy M. Murray was involved in an incident while boarding a tanker vessel inbound to the Port of New York & New Jersey. He sustained injuries after falling from a pilot ladder and was evacuated to a local hospital where his injuries proved to be fatal.

The Varna Pilot Station in Bulgaria has chosen Seably, the global online marketplace for bespoke maritime learning, to become the first pilot station to use the digital platform for its training.

Port Revel is used for shiphandling training of maritime pilots, masters and officers on a 5 ha lake with 11 manned model ships representing 20 vessels, and 4 tugs at scale 1:25 and DGPS tracking system. Instructors are former maritime pilots.
Training on the scale models provides experience that could never be gained on real ships for the simple reason that neither ship-owners nor local authorities would allow such risks to be taken. Scale models allow the shiphandler to make mistakes....

The role of a Tug Master undertaking harbour towage activities is a very specific one. He/she has to, alone or in cooperation with other Tug Masters, assist a ship in a safe and efficient way using his/her tug to the best of its qualities. 

A study of increasing competition in ports and the underlying pressure to improve port performance. This thesis is the final deliverable for the completion of the degree of Master of Science in Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics (TIL) at the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geo-sciences at the Delft University of Technology.

This is a short documentary done in the 1980s of San Diego Harbor Pilots. It shows the old pilot boat built in 1914. The boat was donated to the Maritime Museum and provides daily bay rides for the public. The film shows arrival of the cruise ship SS Azure Seas.

Some pilots have already lost their lives because of this non-compliant construction. We don't want to see such an arrangement again. Here is a latest video from the Middle East.