Marine Officer/Pilot – Greenock UK

The fascinating tale told by Roger Francis about his life at sea and ultimately as a Deep Sea Pilot. The explanation in detail of the terrific responsibilities comes with tales of daring-do, near misses and other peoples' disasters. Roger's personal tale takes him from kiddy to cadet and from 3rd Mate to Master before he became a Deep Sea Pilot guiding shipping on the busiest shipping thoroughfare in the world - the Dover Straits. On top of this, there is love interest and action in war...

This is a short video of the Hamburg Pilot boarding Queen Mary 2. These people make it look easy but, it is a dangerous manoeuvre.

Setubal pilot boat "Bolina" underway to refuelling point in harbour.

According to Captain’s visual observance and overheard radio talks, bulk carrier OLIVE BAY anchor chain entangled with the chain of another ship, on Jan 8 or 9, in Yangtze estuary between Chongming island and Taicang, Shanghai area.

Actual video of Ships Pilot disembark use with Helicopter

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

After almost four hours of work to safely guide and assist the Ship's Captain in navigating the vessel out from Liverpool's Royal Seaforth Container/Roro Terminal (RSCT) in Liverpool UK, the Harbor Pilot disembarks at Bar Pilot Station, a rendezvous point or certain place where a ship should take the Sea/River/Harbor Pilot on and off. In this video, the Pilot disembarked at the Starboard side (right side), lee side of the vessel which is the normal practice. The term "lee side" means away...