One small step… for maritime safety

Jacobsen Pilot Service and Los Angeles Pilot Station published a notice to all ships to inspect pilot ladders before the pilot boards.

Reason is an incident happened at the port of long beach in July 2020. Pilot ladder rope broke while the pilot was on the ladder - luckily the pilot was able to hold on.

On the back of the long-standing success of the Yellow-Mag ll Pilot Ladder Magnet worldwide, Serpent & Dove—Applied Magnetics is introducing its patented Yellow-Mag lll Switchable Pilot Ladder Magnet.

The Nautical Institute (NI) and the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) have been concerned for many years at the needlessly high rate of Pilot Ladder casualties. The NI is continuously reminded of the problem from its Members and through its Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS). The issue features frequently in our publications, and we recently dedicated an edition of our award winning magazine The Navigator to the topic, emphasising the importance of good...

After years of looking, the Port of Grays Harbor has its new pilot boat, the Vega, to replace the 60-year-old Chehalis.

The vulnerability of GNSS in shore-based use is definitely different and to be regarded as much more risky than on the high seas.

AIMPA organised a competition to author a Research paper on Pilot ladder - risk mitigation innovation and alternatives to Pilot Transfer arrangement.

The Auckland District Court has fined the Ports of Auckland NZD424,000 (USD300,500) for exempting its pilot boats from speed limits in Waitemata Harbour after a swimmer was struck and killed (April 2017).

According to AIS past track data, the vessel was obviously too fast on 9 knots and also going down the wind (4-5 bft., take a look at the exhaust from the stack) when entered the inner harbour considering the size and displacement. That speed was approximate 3 ship lengths to the pier and there was the on pier wind after the turn. Why the ship entered the port so fast will be the subject of the investigations to be awaited. Knowing South Korea procedures there will be no just marine...

It turns out that supertankers and cruise ships have valets. They're called maritime pilots, and they're among the most elite ship handlers in the world. So where does one go to learn how to park the largest ships in the world? To the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La. There, they use mini-versions of the behemoth boats to teach the basics. All aboard!