IMPA is hosting examples of best practice and protocols during Covid-19 times

The United Kingdom Maritime Pilots' Association (UKMPA) has all been inundated with CV19 communications from all manner of sources in the last few weeks. Here is a condensed collection of information from the UKMPA.

On Monday, March 23, 2020, Admiral Osama Rabie announced the successful transit of the Italian passenger ship COSTA DIADEMA in the northbound convoy through the new Suez Canal, coming from the United Arab Emirates heading to Italy. Special measures were applied, as 65 Coronavirus cases were reported on board which required piloting the vessel remotely through pilotage team boarded on two escorting tugs in full coordination with the transit control offices and navigation monitoring stations in a first of its kind scenario in the history of the Suez Canal.

Fewer vessels in voyage mean less pilotage and this means less income for many Pilots. Not every Pilot is an employee and many pilots are self-employed and organised in a brotherhood per example. They are earning only money if they are piloting a vessel. No vessel – no money.

Free Marine Pilot Profiles webinar, unday 14th November at 7pm AEDT. Open to everyone.

Grounding container vessel Shahraz and MV Samudra Sakti in Singapore Strait May 10 2020
What happened?
MV "Shahraz" and MV "Samudra Sakti I" had run aground to the shallow Batu Berhanti in the Indonesian territorial waters within 6 minutes, which is surveyed with minimum water depths of 8.3 m in the northern part and up to 0.5 m in the southern part . It is located south of TSS Singapore Strait’s eastbound traffic lane.
A chain of events which must be described as extra ordinary rarity....

What happens when GNSS fails? In maritime navigation, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario – it’s a growing risk. Spoofing, jamming, and GNSS outages are increasing, especially in the Baltic Sea region. A failure can cripple navigation systems – with potentially serious consequences.

Today, Nautitec took residence of their new offices at the construction site of the “Friesenbrücke” in Weener, the railway bridge which is connecting Weener to the Netherlands.

Authentic Style! Die neue Kollektion Sea Pilots ist den Navigationsexperten gewidmet, die bei rauesten Bedingungen die größten Containerschiffe der Welt sicher in den Hafen lotsen. Plakative Prints, robuste Materialien, coole Signalfarben und sportliche Details spiegeln den Charakter der Linie wider. T-Shirts, Polos, Hemden, Pullover und Jacken werden von stylischen High Top Sneakern perfekt abgerundet. Jetzt entdecken!

Another great education video by Knud Benedict (Germany): Practical experiments for getting useful data for planning.

There are some problems that never seem to go away and one is the perennial difficulties in providing a safe way of getting pilots on and off a ship.