Opinion

A deliberately sabotaged Pilot Ladder


by Arie Palmers - published on 16 March 2022 936 -

Story and photos by Arie Palmers

Already a few years ago, the fishery-inspection vessel of a European country wanted to conduct an inspection at sea of a fishing vessel. The fishing vessel was ordered to prepare a pilot ladder to allow the inspector to board the vessel.

When the inspector attempted to board the fishing vessel, both side ropes snapped simultaneously, and the inspector could barely prevent himself from falling into the water. Should he have fallen onto the launch backwards, he might have suffered long lasting physical damage.
The launch returned to the mothership and a short while after, another inspector boarded the fishing vessel and ordered it to proceed back to port. In port the inspection was conducted, and the respective pilot ladder was seized for investigation. On board of the inspecting-vessel the ladder was subjected to a first visual inspection. During the visual inspection the crew of the inspecting-vessel drew the conclusion that the side ropes looked like they were (partly) cut. Therefore, the decision was made to send the ladder to a laboratory for thorough inspection and examination.
The photos above show the respective pilot ladder as well as close-up pictures taken from the sideropes. The snapped side ropes have also been microscopical examined. Basically, there were two possibilities in this case:
  • Side ropes snapped simultaneously due to wear and tear
  • Side ropes were partly cut
Since a major portion of both side ropes had very sharp ends on the loose parts, the laboratory came with the hypothesis that the ropes had been partly cut and when weight was put on them, the rest of the ropes spontaneously snapped. A part of the side ropes looked snapped, and a part looked cut. Further examination showed that the remainder of the side ropes were very strong, despite the fact this was not an official and certified pilot ladder, and therefore damage due to wear and tear was highly unlikely: a conclusion was that should there have been no manipulation of the side ropes, they would not have snapped on that particular day.

The captain of the fishing vessel had to answer to court following these conclusions. The defendant claimed that the ladder had been damaged due to a collision between the launch used for inspection and the pilot ladder. The court however did not agree on this statement, and followed the conclusions of the examining laboratory. The court sentenced the captain to a sentence of 30 months imprisonment in total. In the verdict the judge stated: it has been proven without reasonable doubt, that the defendant had manipulated the side ropes to hamper or prevent inspection. The defendant had, according to the court, a plausible interest by hampering or preventing inspection.

The inspector who suffered this accident, has not inspected any ships since the incident due to the mental trauma he suffered, and he has been assigned to other duties within the ministry. Again, we see that accidents on ladders can be very traumatically and can lead to long lasting physical and mental consequences.

Arie Palmers
Maritime Pilot
Editor's note:
Opinion pieces reflect the personal opinion of individual authors. They do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about a prevailing opinion in the respective editorial department. Opinion pieces might be deliberately formulated in a pronounced or even explicit tone and may contain biased arguments. They might be intended to polarise and stimulate discussion. In this, they deliberately differ from the factual articles you typically find on this platform, written to present facts and opinions in as balanced a manner as possible.
sea, river, harbor pilot (westerschelde, oosterschelde and adjacent coastal area) active marine pilot - Loodswezen - NEDERLANDSE LOODSENCORPORATIE


50 years old, without a proper birthday party this year ( thank you corona..) 12 years as a pilot 2 years offshore/tugboats 8 years with juvenile delinquents mv Koningin Juliana, mv Smal Agt 8 years Navy: minehunter, explosive ordnance clearance 2 years army: artillery sergeant
What's your opinion on this?
Login or register to write comments and join the discussion!
Read more...

Video Kittiwake Mersey Pilot

published on 22 December 2021

KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

0

Video Polaris Pilot Boat Antwerp Belgium

published on 15 March 2022

Vessel name: Polaris ; Year built: 2012 ; Flag: Netherlands ; Homeport: Rotterdam Length: 81.2m X 13.3m ; GRT: 2501 ; Callsign: PBZN ; MMSI:245142000 ; IMO: 9496915 Type: Special Vessel / Pilot Ship A "Pilot Ship / Pilot Vessel" is a "special type" of ship in which it accommodates a certain and limited Marine Pilots (Sea, River, Harbor Pilots), it also carries small boats/crafts that are used to tender services to and from the Pilot ship. In a Pilot Vessel, the Pilots can take their time...

1

Video Pilot Leaving Ship Vigo

published on 31 March 2023

0

Video Falmouth Pilots: Working as Maritime Pilot (Documentary 2019)

published on 30 March 2022

Documentary from 2019 by "The Sea Lad"

1

Video Vídeo Institucional Oficial da Praticagem do Brasil

published on 3 September 2019

The practice is essential to the safety of waterway traffic, as it avoids or minimizes accidents that can cost the lives of people, cause damage to the environment and enormous material losses.
The structure is fully maintained by the practicing companies themselves, without the contribution of any public resource, related to the maintenance of the speedboats, the 24-hour operation of their Operations Centers, the training of their employees, the acquisition and maintenance of communication,...

0

Video A day on a tugboat, time lapse edition

published on 25 May 2020

An entire day caught in a time lapse. Up and down the river twice.
Cool prospective 12000 TEU ship Turing min 2:00. !

0

Video Captain Matt Glass - Houston Pilot (2012)

published on 22 December 2021

Captain Matt Glass, a deputy pilot with the Houston Pilots, boards and guides the UAL Capetown on the Houston Ship Channel from the landing area outside Galveston Bay to the Manchester docks in Houston, a voyage of about 7 hours.

0

Opinion Empty Ships, Empty Seas

by Ivana-Maria Carrioni-Burnett - published on 21 September 2020

“The current plight many seafarers are facing, unable to crew change or return home, is being described by many voices within the maritime community as the next humanitarian crisis.”

0

Article Awarded large Pilot Boat Mira

published on 16 March 2021

After 25 years of continual and significant refinement, these Camarc pilot boats remain clear sector leaders. The hull shape is now quite different yet they retain their classic Camarc good looks.

0

Article Seven questions for Capt. Gajanan Karanjikar, President at All India Maritime Pilots Association

published on 22 April 2021

In our new section “Five questions for ..." Marine-Pilots.com introduces pilots and other market players to our readers in short interviews. Today we have seven questions!

We have talked to Capt. Gajanan Karanjikar, President at All India Maritime Pilots association

0