Update: Fatal Pilot Ladder Accident in Turkey on 18th July

As my colleagues know, IMPA conducts a “safety campaign” in the fall every year. The 2022 safety survey report was released a few days ago. First of all, we would like to thank the pilots who participated in this survey from all over the world.

The United Kingdom Maritime Pilots Association (UKMPA), is the representative professional body for Maritime Pilots in the United Kingdom. Almost every ship entering or leaving a port, is required under UK law to engage a duly Authorised Maritime Pilot, who either boards the vessel in port or at sea and takes conduct of the safe navigation of that vessel. This undertaking is critical to protecting the country’s national infrastructure and environment from damage or pollution, supporting the UK’s economy, and ensuring the safe, timely and efficient movement of all trade.

The LNG carrier ‘Genesis River’ collided with a 297-foot-long tank barge being pushed ahead by the 69-foot-long towing vessel ‘Voyager’, spilling petrochemical cargo into the waterway and capsizing a barge.

A containership arriving in Taiwan hit the berth after traveling in excess of the harbor speed according to reports from the port authority and Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau. They are confirming media reports that the pilot assigned to the vessel was legally intoxicated at the time of the incident.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s (MAIB) has published their latest annual report showing that pilot ladders remain a safety issue for workers.

SUMMARY A New York harbor pilot boat passes close enough for four members of the crew to be seen [Frame: 0471]. Following the sailing vessel is a steamship [0780]. From a contemporary Edison Company catalog: PILOT BOATS IN NEW YORK HARBOR. Unboys [code for telegraphic orders]. A close view of an eighty footer, schooner rigged, trim as a private yacht, skimming over the waters of the harbor near Robin's Reef, [where a] picturesque little lighthouse is seen in the near background. A steamer...

Going down the accommodation ladder with neither lifevest nor safety line must have been based on similar, past, successful operations, which may have never been challenged on board. This ‘slippage’ in safety is a pernicious and common phenomenon.

The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to assess P-J fit theory by examining the relationship between personality traits, as measured by Jackson’s (1984) PRF-E, and selection for a maritime pilot job.