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 scope of this report covers a twenty-year period between 1999 and 2019 in which there were 1,046 such recorded incidents and where each incident gave rise to P&I liabilities in excess of US$100,000.

For the first time, the ports of Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Montreal and Rotterdam come together to showcase their most advanced digital transformation and sustainability projects at their dedicated ‘Smart Ports’ exhibit

Irish boatbuilder Safehaven Marine recently handed over a new pilot boat "Punta Do Cruceiro" to the Port of Ferrol in northwestern Spain

Pilot Tango is a Danish State approved Pilot company providing pilotage through the Danish Strait – Route Tango (T)

This book was only available in some areas, now the author has created an e-book version. Furthermore it´s available on amazon as a paperback.

Completely new book on Ship manoeuvring techniques based on new revealing facts which have been brought to light. Must read for all the mariners to understand the behaviour of ships and how to control her behaviour during manoeuvring.

In my most recent article, I talked about how ports are currently faced with disruptive circumstances that severely impact the day-to-day port operations. The COVID-19 situation and blockage of the Suez Canal lead to increased operational uncertainty and a need for ports to endure the situation rather than planning the future.