Sandy Hook Pilot Timothy M. Murray lost his life while boarding a ship (08/05/2020)

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?

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.

The American Pilots’ Association has sent a letter to state pilotage authorities across the United States on behalf of approximately 1,200 American ship pilots to improve safety pilot safety following the death of a New York pilot in December.

Container ship APL MEXICO CITY broke off her mooring at Doel, Antwerp, in the afternoon Dec 9, drifted across harbor and contacted DP World pier crane. Crane collapsed and was totally destroyed.

The RCMP are investigating the death of a man who went overboard outside St. John's harbour from a pilot boat early Tuesday morning.

ChirpMaritime has just released their annual analysis of maritime reports (2022-2023).

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the contact of the Miss Mollye D tow with the Route 182 bridge was a loss of control of the tow by the pilot at the helm of the towing vessel, likely due to impairment by factors such as fatigue or drug use.

The Port of Townsville, northern Australia’s largest multi-cargo port, is expanding its fleet of pilot boats to four.

The Port has awarded Hart Marine a $3 million contract to build a 17.3m ORC vessel that is due for delivery later in 2020. The new high-tech vessel will be slightly longer but have the same design features as the PV Osprey which was delivered by Hart Marine in late 2017.