Mooring Master

Coronavirus may be hampering global trade but it hasn't broken the supply chain at the Port of Oakland. The latest evidence: the largest ship ever to call in Oakland arrives this week. The container vessel MSC Anna is scheduled to berth at the Port April 16.

The ship will tie up at Oakland International Container Terminal on the Oakland Estuary. The Port said that the 1,312-foot-long vessel is on special assignment from Geneva-based shipping line MSC. It’s collecting a backlog of empty containers in Southern California before arriving in Oakland. It’s scheduled to spend 24 hours here discharging import containers and loading exports.

I think this is one of my favorite Marine Pilots' pictures of the year. Very powerful. What a dynamic photo! The moment was instantly caught by the photographer.

DanPilot, Denmarks state pilot organization have incorporated the information of Pilotladdersafety.com in their e-learning module for pilots.

photo and article by Luis Vale, Portugal

Harbour Services Australia was the client for this ultra-efficient pilot vessel, Dongara Marine's second Berkeley Class pilot boat to operate from the port of Fremantle. Delivered in June 2019 it joined Fremantle Pilots’ Berkeley, which had already been operating with great success in the Western Australian port since 2015. Purpose-designed to maximise overall operability and the safety and comfort of pilots and crew even in demanding sea conditions, the Berkeley Class provides: • High open...

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...

Coast Guard air and surface rescue crews at Sector San Juan responded and assisted the distressed M/V Island Express Wednesday afternoon, after the ship started taking on water when it departed the Port of San Juan for storm avoidance in anticipation of Tropical Cyclone 9.

Safehaven Marine have launched another new Pilot boat, there 20th Interceptor 48 and 46th pilot vessel overall for the River Plate pilots in Montevideo, Uruguay. ‘Belgrano’ named after the famous Argentine general, will operate on the River Plate estuary, also famous for being the place of the first naval battle during the second world war, where the German battle cruiser, the Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled.

The entrance to Cork Harbour situated on the South coast of Ireland can produce some pretty extreme sea states during the winter storm months. There are two main factors that influence the sea state at the entrance, the first being the ebbing tide, the second being shoaling waters over the Harbour Rock, this is situated at the entrance to the Harbour off Roches Point lighthouse, right in the middle between the Western and Eastern channel entrances.

On May 11, 2020, in the early morning hours, the news went around the world that two serious marine casualties occurred in sector 8 of Singapore Street within 6 minutes.