UK Ports and Pilots take firm stand against Non-compliant Trap Door Boarding arrangements

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.

During the transit time on the pilot launch between the shore and the vessel, marine pilots will spend at least a portion of that time carrying out (either consciously or subconsciously) a risk assessment of the forthcoming operation.

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.

A pilot ladder is a highly specialized form of rope ladder, typically used on board cargo vessels for the purposes of embarking and disembarking pilots.

A Florida Harbor Pilot encountering the pilot pilot ladder of a submarine. First harbor pilots must make their way offshore through rough seas to a vessel desiring their expertise to safely enter port. Next harbor pilots must negotiate the dangerous boarding accommodations to embark on vessels of every type. Next, the real work begins by using years of experience and centuries of knowledge passed down through the rigorous training process, to safely guide vessels in and out of Florida's...

Korean Pilot boarding PCC Vessel in Mokpo, Korea

A 35-year-old male sea pilot of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) fell into the sea from a crude oil tanker near the N Shed Wharf in the port of Durban. A rope of the pilot ladder is said to have snapped for an undetermined reason when the man disembarked while leaving the crude oil tanker which was leaving the port of Durban.

timelapse of Pilot embarking and departing from Ship
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To minimize the risk of a vessel allision with a terminal gantry crane, the American Harbor and Docking Pilots Association recommends that all terminal operators with gantry cranes adopt the following Best Practices.

One of the biggest ships in the world, 23,000+ TEU container ship MSC MIA, contacted gantry crane while leaving container terminal at Valencia, Spain, in the morning Sep 13. Crane collapsed, crane operator sustained injures and was hospitalized.