Capt. and Marine Pilot Burliegh Oscar Bruno died suddenly on Saturday, January 18

A pilot of Sandy Hook, Dennis Sherwood fell off a ladder while boarding a ship today at 4:30 a.m. and died of his serious injury in Staten Island hospital.

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.

IMPA President makes a statement to IMO on January 17th regarding the passing of Captain Dennis Sherwood. A letter to IMO was published via Twitter today.

On the occasion of the Maritime Safety Week (July 4-10), UK MAIB’s inspector Bill Evans refers to the issue of unsafe pilot ladders, a concern that has been regularly voiced by the industry.

On the 23rd of March 2021 the VLCC Ever Given grounded in the Suez Canal. A strong southerly wind (between 6 and 7 BFT) plus so-called bank shear caused steering issues. This a combined 2D and 3D reconstruction of the incident based on recorded AIS data.

One of the biggest ships in the world, 23,000+ TEU container ship MSC MIA, reportedly contacted gantry crane while leaving container terminal at Valencia.

Rostock; 02.05.2020: Actually, the special ship with the giant heavy-lift crane crane, which was designed for over 5,000 tons load capacity, was supposed to be delivered in the next few days. During final tests the crane broke off in the afternoon of May 2. Four people were injured in the accident. This is the second accident with Liebherr cranes this year in the Rostock overseas port. Already in February this year two cranes were reported to have fallen into the water during loading....

The Bahamas has imposed a compulsory maritime pilot rule for all vessels, including cruise ships, at its ports since September 2025.

Recently, Herman Broers launched the website PilotladderSafety.com.
This website’s goal is to increase pilot ladder safety by showing good practice examples regarding the rigging and use of pilot ladder arrangements . Do it right the first time!

Throughout the world, mariners rely upon nautical charts to guide their voyages, to assist them in avoiding obstructions, and to note any special ocean conditions when sailing.