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.

PTR Holland® are aware that certain parties have copied and supply, low-quality imitations of our rope ladders through several ship-chandlers in Rotterdam, Houston, Greece and in Turkey.

For the safety of maritime pilots

The St. Andrew’s Bay Pilots are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Captain Phillip Brady, age 46, on January 12, 2026.

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

Container ship SHAHRAZ and bulk carrier SAMUDRA SAKTI I are reported to run aground in Singapore Strait south of St John Island at around 1900 UTC May 10, close to each other, while proceeding in the same direction, probably trying to avoid collision. As of 0700 UTC May 11, both ships remain in the same positions, coordinates don’t change. SHAHRAZ is en route from Port Klang to Yangshan China, SAMUDRA SAKTI I is en route from Belawan to Bayah, southwest Java.

This is a video I had captured off U.S Coast from a merchant vessel as the Pilot was transferred from our Ship to Shore via Helicopter.
All recordings were done using N8 (unbelievable clarity!)