Capt. and Marine Pilot Burliegh Oscar Bruno died suddenly on Saturday, January 18

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.

Ladders are the bridges for crossing the rough seas of our lives.
When you are a Marine Pilot at work, hoping and praying that the ladders which let you embark the vessel are stable, safe and not dangerous.
In Memoriam of the late Captain Dennis Sherwood who passed away on Monday the 30th of December.

IMPA President makes a statement to IMO on January 17th regarding the passing of Captain Dennis Sherwood. A letter to IMO was published via Twitter today.

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?

The collision of 3 ships, an unfortunate event that highlighted the importance of human factors on accident causation,

Shortly after 5 a.m. local time the vessel “Else” had a collision in the Kiel-Holtenau lock to the Kiel Canal.
The "Else" subject to pilotage passed the pilot's boarding position without taking a sea pilot on board and collided from the outside into the closed gate of the new north lock. The bow bored into the metal construction and the ship was stuck for about six hours.
For more information about this accident see related content below (articles).

State regulators on Friday banned cargo ship pilots from using personal cellphones on Maryland waters. The Maryland Board of Pilots, which oversees cargo ship pilots, approved a rule change 10 months after, and in direct response to, the Ever Forward's weekslong grounding in the Chesapeake Bay. Instead of leading the team on the bridge of the Ever Forward, the pilot was on his phone for an hour, texting, sending emails and taking screenshots before running aground and getting stuck for 45...

Norwegian coast guard said that there is still a risk that the ship may capsize and pose an environmental
hazard.The ship is still drifting, and is located 40-50 nautical miles west of Alesund. KV Sortland is still on
site, and they are the Coastal Administration's eyes and ears.

The following article appeared in AIMPA magazine number 2 about the strength and testing of pilot ladders : There is much more information about pilot ladders in the AIMPA magazine, second issue, if you wish to read more you can download a copy at the bottom of this post.

The new emblem expresses the solidarity, commitment and reliability of all pilots in the Netherlands. It also serves to strengthen the mutual bond of the pilots who together form the Dutch Pilotage Association.