Harbour Master

At the mouth of the Columbia River lies "The Graveyard of the Pacific"—the deadliest river bar crossing on earth. To get a massive cargo ship safely through these crushing waves, an elite Bar Pilot has to board a moving ship by climbing a rope ladder and get's hoisted off the ship by helicopter 10 miles off shore in the Pacific Ocean. In this episode of What do you Wanna Cook?: PORTS UNKNOWN, we get you as close to the action as humanly possible. We take you inside the cockpit for an...

Inbound San Juan harbor new pilot boat build by Safehaven marine

The Los Angeles Pilot Service ordered two customized 56′ Camarc Design pilot boats (P/B) built by Vigor Industrial at their Vancouver, WA facility, located on the northern side of the Columbia River. The LA Pilot Service took delivery of the P/B Angels Pilot and Angels Navigator at Vigor’s shipyard on Swan Island in Portland, Oregon in early October.

In this charterparty dispute, the arbitral tribunal rejected the Owners’ claim for damages for breach of the safe port warranty in a time charterparty, after a laden bulk carrier grounded at the entrance to the port of Chaozhou, China, while under compulsory pilotage. It also held that the vessel was unseaworthy, in breach of Article III.1 of the Hague Rules, due to lack of proper charts, but found on the facts that this was not causative of the grounding.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) and the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) issued new protocols to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 cases on board.

This publication (2024) details the rules, regulations and procedures that should be followed when preparing for pilot embarkation and disembarkation. It includes relevant excerpts from SOLAS regulations and IMO resolutions.

Watching Bar Pilots navigate the Columbia River in Astoria, OR and learning some history about the old pilot boat “Peacock”. Beautiful sunny day on the river with Sea lions, Gulls, ducks and more. Learn why it’s absolutely necessary for the bar pilots to help the ships get through one of the most treacherous parts of the Columbia.

An ATSB interim report outlines the sequence of events leading to the collision between the container vessel Maersk Shekou and the berthed tall ship STS Leeuwin II in Fremantle on 30 August 2024.