Marine Pilot (NEW)

Drone footage from King's Lynn.

It turns out that supertankers and cruise ships have valets. They're called maritime pilots, and they're among the most elite ship handlers in the world. So where does one go to learn how to park the largest ships in the world? To the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La. There, they use mini-versions of the behemoth boats to teach the basics. All aboard!

Up here in the north, we do things a little differently ...

Consistently 99.9 per cent safe operation of large vessels: Marine pilots on Canada’s West Coast have an exceptional safety record in the world’s largest pilot-mandatory zone for large vessels including oil tankers.

by Rhys Davies, current Apprentice. Published already in Feb. 2020 by ABP.

On August 5, 2020 at approximately 10:30 pm, Sandy Hook Pilot Captain Timothy M. Murray was involved in an incident while boarding a tanker vessel inbound to the Port of New York & New Jersey. He sustained injuries after falling from a pilot ladder and was evacuated to a local hospital where his injuries proved to be fatal.

In early December, just as I was starting to get into ship spotting, I saw a couple of vessels headed up river towards Philly. One of them, the Cielo di Iyo met with the harbor pilot right as I had my drone up. I was able to capture the Pilot coming to meet the vessel and CLIMBING the ladder to get on board just before she passed beneath the Walt Whitman Bridge.

#pilotonboard #pilotboat #seamanslife