Podcast: Marine pilot support staff help make it all happen

The Port of Townsville, northern Australia’s largest multi-cargo port, is expanding its fleet of pilot boats to four.

The Port has awarded Hart Marine a $3 million contract to build a 17.3m ORC vessel that is due for delivery later in 2020. The new high-tech vessel will be slightly longer but have the same design features as the PV Osprey which was delivered by Hart Marine in late 2017.

In March the Slovenian Government has concluded a contract with the state-owned Kopp Izobraževanje company to provide maritime piloting services in the port of Koper as a public service. So far these services have been provided by private company Piloti Koper.

The "Sea Bear", (ex "Narrows") was built in 1959 in Massachusetts for use as a pilot boat in New York. Ed Montgomery, at Sea Service, LLC, bought her and brought her to the Twin Ports in September, 2002.

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.

The Chinese container freighter "CSCL Star" belongs to the class of Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS) and is one of the largest ships that can enter the port of Hamburg.

A new 1:25 cruise ship manned model, the "Voyager", was added to our fleet in 2014. She is 311 m long and is fitted with 2 azimuthing pods (and one Fixipod) and powerful bow thrusters. Training is conducted in emergency conditions like engine failures, crash stops, tight turns ...

The 186 m long M/T TOWER BRIDGE is inbound to Oil harbour 4, Shell 101 berth. We were assisted by two Boluda tugs, REBEL and HUDSON and the Rotterdam Boatmen.

With effect from 1 June 2026, Steffen Schmedes has been appointed Managing Director of TRENZ GmbH. He will lead the company with immediate effect alongside Frank Diegel, who previously managed TRENZ alone.

1:19 What is the history? 2:14 If we fast forward to the modern era, what has changed? 3:00 How have things impacted the modern Captain? 3:33 What are the typical laws on the subject in some countries? 4:05 How is it different from other leadership positions? 5:34 What needs to change? Blog - https://www.melvinmathews.com/ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melvin-mathews/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/melvinsmathews Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melvin.mathews.37 Instagram - https:...