12th International Harbour Masters Congress (virtual)

It has been 1 month since the 1st case of coronavirus in the country. All airports were shut down, and mandatory confinement was issued 10 days ago. Nevertheless, Maritime shipping must continue (except for tourist related). The means that us pilots must continue with our duties despite the risks involved with all the ships' crews arriving from different countries. So we need to take all safety measures possible.
This particular maneuver was unberthing a chemical tanker, in loaded...

A video largely shot by my 10, 8 and 4 year old grandchildren depicting an open day at Portsmouth (UK) Commecial Port open day. We look briefly around the port, visit a Challenger (5) sailing yacht, a Pilot boat and a small tanker. The video includes a trip out of Portsmouth Harbour on the Pilot Boat to pick up my Son (a Harbour Pilot) from the grain ship he was taking out of the port.

Short presentation of the steamship S/S Orion

The plug-in diesel hybrid pilot boat's hull is be based on the established ‘ORC’ design, a unique ‘beak’ bow design, which gives it unmatched all weather capability and typically uses 40% less diesel per nautical mile than convention hulls.

In fact, the pivot point that we “see” is a trick of the eye, it looks like the ship is rotating about this point but in fact it is elsewhere, a point that you cannot see.

We have reached Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Could not have been a more enjoyable adventure. Thank you Suez Canal Authority for the two excellent pilots, specially Emad, and the support specially at Ismailia.
Editor's note:
Other countries, other habits: especially when it comes to safety standards. Life jackets, for example, are not to be seen here.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

Stanchions therefore are an often-overlooked part of a pilot transfer arrangement and therefore I
want to give them more attention in this article. They proved to be the cause of a whole series of accidents, some of which were even fatal.

With the theme, "The Next Wave – Navigating Towards the Digital Future, the 12th biennial Congress will be delivered virtually from 5 - 10 October, 2020.