This is how marine pilots go to work (found on Twitter, by Capt. Ed Enos)

Most pilot embarkations and disembarkations around the world, are still carried out using a traditional pilot ladder, consisting of wooden steps supported and secured by side ropes.

Tuesday, October 1st is the start date of the latest International Maritime Pilot Association's annual Safety Campaign.

Previous campaigns by the association have consistently shown results of pilot ladder deficiencies around the 20% mark.

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

In this one you will see a couple different times when the Pilot boards or leaves the ship and how they do it. It is always interesting to watch even though I have seen it many time. Hope you all enjoy the video and hope to see you in the comments as always.

This lady came into port in an excellent day, however when I inspected the pilot ladder prior to board I saw that it was rigged using D-Shackles fastened between the side ropes, transferring all the weight and load of the ladder to the clamps and chokes. Truly an unsuitable method of securing the ladder. Retrieval line was also not above the first spreader
After pulling out the pilot boat, the ship was contacted by VHF and the captain was asked to instruct the crew in the usage of ropes and...

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

Safehaven Marine build a range of vessels for many different operational roles such as patrol, survey, crew transfer to name a few, but what makes Safehaven unique is that we specialize in pilot boats, with 80% of our production dedicated to just this area, and have supplied over 50 pilot craft all around the world over the last 17 years.

SF Bar Pilot transfer- offshore pilot station.

Information video: How to become a Marine Pilot.

Pilot boats doing their thing on a rough day at Port Phillip Heads. Featuring: Auriga Pilots – PV Griffiths Port Phillip Sea Pilots – PV Nepean Videography from the Bellarine Peninsula, Surf Coast & beyond. Enquiries E: info@petejamesmedia.com.au DM for enquiries. Other work - Landscape Photography: IG: @petejamesphoto FB: @petejamesphoto www.petejamesphotography.com.au Commercial Photography & Video IG: @petejamesmedia www.petejamesmedia.com.au Surf Videos IG: @petejames.surf