Incident on 31 January 2020 : A rope of the pilot ladder breaks. Pilot could still reach the vessel

From that moment on I have been keeping a tally of the non compliant boarding arrangements I see in front of me on a daily base, and off course I participate in the annual safety campaign, conducted by IMPA each october.

A 35-year-old male sea pilot of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) fell into the sea from a crude oil tanker near the N Shed Wharf in the port of Durban. A rope of the pilot ladder is said to have snapped for an undetermined reason when the man disembarked while leaving the crude oil tanker which was leaving the port of Durban.

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.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration mobilized according to their contingency plan against acute pollution, salvage crews managed to get on board the drifting vessel Eemslift Hendrika and managed to connect it to the two tugboats, and the vessel is now being towed to harbour in Ålesund.

Pilot ladder broke when pilot was boarding general cargo ship CREST CRANE at night Nov 5 at Keelung Port, Taiwan, to take the ship out.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

According to AIS past track data, the vessel was obviously too fast on 9 knots and also going down the wind (4-5 bft., take a look at the exhaust from the stack) when entered the inner harbour considering the size and displacement. That speed was approximate 3 ship lengths to the pier and there was the on pier wind after the turn. Why the ship entered the port so fast will be the subject of the investigations to be awaited. Knowing South Korea procedures there will be no just marine...

The United States Coast Guard presented an award to a Mount Pleasant man for his act of maritime heroism earlier this month on Wednesday.

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