Pilotage Wisdom

The Puget Sound Pilots’ mission is to ensure against the loss of lives, loss of or damage to property and vessels, and to protect the marine environment by maintaining efficient and competent pilotage service on our State’s inland waters within the Puget Sound Pilotage District. The members of the Pilots are highly skilled, specially trained vessel captains who board oil tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships to guide them safely through Puget Sound waters. The pilots are independent...

The 160 pilots allotted to the PZ are distributed in eight pilot companies responsible for attending ships that seek the ports or terminals of Santana (AP), Munguba (PA), Santarém (PA), Trombetas (PA), Juruti (PA) and Itacoatiara (AM), as they sail upriver (against the current).

Opinion article by BAIRD Maritime, Australia

Coronavirus may be hampering global trade but it hasn't broken the supply chain at the Port of Oakland. The latest evidence: the largest ship ever to call in Oakland arrives this week. The container vessel MSC Anna is scheduled to berth at the Port April 16.

The ship will tie up at Oakland International Container Terminal on the Oakland Estuary. The Port said that the 1,312-foot-long vessel is on special assignment from Geneva-based shipping line MSC. It’s collecting a backlog of empty containers in Southern California before arriving in Oakland. It’s scheduled to spend 24 hours here discharging import containers and loading exports.

A French munitions ship and a Norwegian steamer collided in Halifax harbour in December 1917, and the blast that followed remains the largest human-made explosion before the atomic bomb. Within six days, a formal inquiry opened — and within two months it placed nearly all the blame on one harbour pilot. Wreck Commissioner Arthur Drysdale's inquiry found Mont-Blanc's pilot and captain responsible for the collision that triggered the disaster, and all three men involved, including a naval...

A trip down the river Haven today to catch the boys in the pilot boat and Eems Sprinter come up river to dock at Boston.

The pilot boat next to the ship after dropping off the Harbour Pilot

U.S. Coastgard has published an update of their Recommendation for Pilot Transfer Arrangements in latest Marine Safety Information Bulletins (MSIB).

"Recent deaths of maritime pilots while embarking commercial vessels highlight the risks of operating in an
unforgiving maritime environment. To ensure the safety of all personnel boarding a vessel at sea, the Coast
Guard reminds vessel owners and operators of the requirements contained in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter V, Regulation 23 and strongly recommends that owners and operators follow the recommendations within IMO Resolution A.1045(27) – Pilot Transfer Arrangements. "

This video is an extract of some elements from lectures by Knud Benedict on "Simulation" as part of the seminars provided by the IALA World Wide Academy on the use of the "IALA Toolbox for Port & Waterway Risk Management".

The Seminar aims to inform Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with IMO about the societal value of maritime pilots and pilotage as a public service. The IMO Secretary-General has recognised maritime pilots as having always been vital to ensuring the safety of navigation in key ports and shipping lanes globally and playing a crucial role in sustaining the global supply chain using specialized knowledge and expertise....