US Coast Guard recalls compliance with pilot transfer agreements

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. "

USCG Station Yaquina Bay in Newport, OR
Surf Training from 12/19-1/20

The Coast Guard Office of Investigations and Analysis has released Marine Safety Alert 05-21, to notify mariners to a potentially dangerous situation involving corrosion of the turntable pin on accommodation ladders.

One of the smallest, lightest and most powerful devices with ROT on the market: only 216 g at 130 mm x 75 mm x 28 mm

A handy and simple tool to determine in a minimum time what is really needed as tug assistance, is the Bollard Pull Calculator which calculates in an approximate way the total required tug power for ships in various conditions of wind and current. This tool can be loaded as an app on the smart phone.

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.

This article was first published in January 2022: The safety aspects of the maritime autonomy solutions need to be addressed. In order to develop maritime autonomy in the first stage in Finland, the Sea4Value / Fairway (54VF) research program has been established to create automated remote fairway pilotage features in the near future.

During a meeting on 4 December 2024, the International Hydrographic Organization Nautical
Information Provision Work Group (IHO NIPWG) held a vote on the new Guide for Nautical
Data 2.1. The guide was unanimously endorsed.

Puget Sound Pilots, Southeast Alaska Pilots’ Association (SEAPA), & BC Coast Pilots board an Alaska based cruise ship.