New date: 56th General Meeting EMPA

The three main french pilotage stations in the Channel - North Sea have changed their recruitment conditions for taking a pilotage examination.

For days, the container freighter "Ever Given" had blocked the Suez Canal. Now Egypt and the shipping company are apparently arguing about compensation. For safety's sake, the canal authorities had the ship chained up.

The Maryland Board of Pilots has decided to enact a rule change that forbids on-duty pilots from using their phones.

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.

New guidance for PBAs with trapdoors. Released 4.11.2020 at NZMPA Conference in Dunedin, NZ. Distinct difference to suggestions in many other countries, is that we challenge operators who have the ladder suspended from the accommodation ladder (gangway) and not secured to the ship. SOLAS states that pilot ladder shall be secured to the ship, and securing strongpoints, shackles and ropes shall be as strong as the sideropes.

This video briefly describes the special operation of transfer of marine pilots at sea

Biscayne Bay Pilots

One person was taken to hospital after a small boat caught fire off Seraya Buoy, located in the waters off Singapore's south-west coast, on Monday (Sept 4) afternoon.

On the occasion of the Maritime Safety Week (July 4-10), UK MAIB’s inspector Bill Evans refers to the issue of unsafe pilot ladders, a concern that has been regularly voiced by the industry.

Caught at Cuxhaven, Germany