#DangerousLadders on Facebook

Before you, you see my third article on pilot boarding arrangements. After my two previous articles
(‘1000 ways to secure a pilot ladder’ and ‘1000 ladders around’, I have received a lot of feedback and
also questions to get deeper into the matter of combinations and embarkation platforms.

Jacobsen Pilot Service and Los Angeles Pilot Station published a notice to all ships to inspect pilot ladders before the pilot boards.

Reason is an incident happened at the port of long beach in July 2020. Pilot ladder rope broke while the pilot was on the ladder - luckily the pilot was able to hold on.

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

We do not put videos of accidents on our website out of voyeurism. We would like to point out that the work of a pilot is always dangerous, especially when embarking and disembarking!
These incidents should be a warning. It can hit anyone out of carelessness.
Dear pilots, please always be mindful and always think of your safety!

A cargo ship lost power while approaching the dock at the Port of Tampa Thursday. Officials said quick thinking by harbor pilots and tug boats got it under control.

A pilot of Sandy Hook, Dennis Sherwood fell off a ladder while boarding a ship today at 4:30 a.m. and died of his serious injury in Staten Island hospital.

It has been exactly one year ago that a pilot from Sandy Hook (New York), Dennis Sherwood, died in the line of duty while attempting to board the container vessel Maersk Kensington.
What has happened since then? Has safety been improved for the pilots?

A Japanese bulk carrier that has spilled more than 1,000 tons of oil since running aground off the coast of Mauritius has broken in two. Officials said the split was caused by a crack in a cargo hold, after the ship's condition deteriorated severely overnight. Emergency teams and thousands of volunteers have been racing to siphon off remaining fuel on board the ship.

This week, Kewatec handed over another popular boat, Kewatec Pilot 1630, to the pilot boat operator Gdańsk Pilot in Poland. The fast pilot boat is self-righting and designed with extraordinary safety performance for both the pilots and boat operators.