Navtech Conference 2023

This safety video examines the safe set-up of pilot ladders and details the safety checks that should be carried out before using a plot ladder to ensure a safe boat transfer.

It takes all sorts of roles to ensure safe and successful operations at Aberdeen Harbour. Meet Finn, a Marine Pilot, and find out why he enjoys working at the port...

Incident between pilot boat and practical Nissos Chios (Balearia), leaving the port of Ceuta (Spain). June 2019

I decided to show the typical happenings when a saltwater freighter arrives Duluth. Most of the time they go to anchor and wait for the Elevator dock. The Pilot Boat brings out the Great Lakes Pilot to sail the ship into the port and to the dock. This vessel arrived early Sunday morning, went to anchor until mid afternoon. They are loading grain at the CHS Elevator in Superor.

The average harbor pilot at the Port of Los Angeles makes $434,000 a year, but also faces a one in 20 chance of dying on the job, according to a book from The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims that was published in 2021.

Ich bin zu Besuch beim Lotsbetriebsverein in Bremerhaven und unterhalte mich mit dem Ältermann Jan-Helge Jannsen über das Lotswesen in Deutschland. Wir fahren außerdem mit dem Lotsenboot raus und begleiten Lotsen und die Crew auf den Versetzern bei einem Einsatz.

Chapter 3 from the book "Crossing the Bar, The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot" by Captain Paul Lobo, available on Amazon (link below)

The Virginia Pilot Association has taken delivery of a Chesapeake Class MK II launch from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, its ninth pilot boat built by the Somerset, Mass., shipyard since 1983.

Since the Chesapeake Class pilot boat was introduced by the Somerset, Mass., shipyard in 2003, 22 boats have been delivered to 11 pilot associations throughout the United States.

Welcome to Point Hope Shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In this video, I follow the float off of the Pacific Navigator, a hardworking pilot boat that serves the Port of Victoria and Ogden Point. We watch as the vessel is pulled along the marine railway, rotated on the turntable, and positioned onto the cradle. Once secured, the cradle lowers to float-off depth, and the Pacific Navigator fires up her engines for a short harbour spin before returning to duty. Some segments,...

Editors note: A film of a pilot boat has just been published on YouTube with the title "How Dangerous being in a Pilot Boat..." on YouTube. I'm not sure if this really shows a dangerous maneuver, maybe the experts can comment on it here.
But in principle it is problematic to approach the ship in such a small Pilot Boat in the wake from astern and cross the waves there. I remember an accident from Finland in December 2017 where the boat capsized and people died. Is this situation shown here...