Podcast: Marine pilot support staff help make it all happen

There were some astonishing pictures in the press some weeks ago of a Royal Marine employing a jetpack to launch himself from a RIB to land on the deck of a ship with extraordinary precision. You cannot imagine that it would be a feasible proposition to equip pilots with such a device, but it did cross my mind after reading a horrible catalogue of disgraceful seamanship and poor design exhibited in what ought to be the simple matter of keeping pilots safe as they board and leave ships.

As a rule, every pilot has the right to refuse an unsafe ladder. Safety first! A brave pilot is not the one who uses an unsafe ladder, but the one who, in case of doubt, asks for a different ladder or a different setting.
Unfortunately, too many pilots climb a dubious ladder when in doubt.

The Swedish Maritime Administration is launching the world's first fully methanol-powered pilot boat today, It is one of the ministry's existing pilot boats, which has now been converted to test the new propellant. The work is part of the Swedish Maritime Administration's transition to a fossil-free fleet.

#PilotVessel "ZEYA LP"/ On board #BulkCarrierShip "CYCLADES" #ZonaComún  #RioDeLaPlata #Argentina / 08th. February 2026 - 07:21 LT.- On this video (with original sound), you can watch the Pilot Vessel "ZEYA LP" approaching alonside the Portside of the Vessel, in #ZonaComún #RioDeLaPlata #Argentina , to change Pilots (Embarking Manuever of Rio Paraná Pilots and Disembarking Maneuver of the Rio de la Plata Pilots).- This video was filmed on board the following Vessel: Bulk Carrier Ship...

Tug power has increased considerably over recent decades. Today, some ship handling tugs have a bollard pull of more than 100 tons. In addition, high tug power can be installed in ever smaller compact hulls.

Welcome to the #2021SAFETY4SEA Virtual Forum! On DAY 3 we are navigating through… Forum Agenda 0:00 - Intro 0:06:38 - Panel #7 Ship Safety – Dry Bulk 1:10:38 - PPT: Loss Prevention, Capt. Konstantinos G. Karavasilis 1:23:20 - PPT: Digital Loss Prevention, Capt. Martti Simojoki 1:36:35 - Panel #8 Ship Safety – Tankers 2:38:02 - PPT: Balancing between automation and people: the Future of Maritime Training, Mrs. Joanna Eugenia Bakouni 2:47:16 - PPT: Training & Development: Lessons Learned from...

The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) once again demonstrates its commitment to seafarer safety by being the first registry to instigate a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) for pilot transfer arrangements. It will continue to run until the end of 2021.

Harbor Pilot Nasir Khan from Pakistan has sent his own checklist to Marine-Pilots.com - we share this list for our readers and look forward to an interesting discussion.