The Seminar aims to inform Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with IMO about the societal value of maritime pilots and pilotage as a public service. The IMO Secretary-General has recognised maritime pilots as having always been vital to ensuring the safety of navigation in key ports and shipping lanes globally and playing a crucial role in sustaining the global supply chain using specialized knowledge and expertise....
There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.
The massive container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal, halting traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways, is still stuck. The ship, called the Ever Given, became horizontally wedged in the waterway following heavy winds. Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal during 2020, for an average of 51.5 per day, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
The Dutch coaster Mv. Stroombank is leaving the port of Figueira da Foz in Portugal. Normally operations are restricted to daylight only, but because bad weather was forecasted for the days to come we've received an exemption and were allowed to depart during dark hours. Cargo operations were running close to the departure deadline so we quickly secured the cargo and prepared the vessel for sea. The tide was running out so we used the forward spring to keep position as we went slow astern...
