Assistant Harbour Master/trainee Pilot at Newhaven Port, East Sussex

Mississippi River Pilot transfer off of south bound ship in the Mississippi River below New Orleans to a Pilot Boat. Pilots climb down rope ladder onto the top of the Pilot Boat while both boats are underway.

As we all know there is a new regulation established since July 2012, this new regulation refers to pilot transfer arrangements. There are other yearly safety campaigns such as IMPA that include SOLAS V.23 and IMO Resolution A 1045 and Resolution A.1108(29). Unfortunately, in this annual overview there were some accidents reported that could have been avoided.

Video from Brixham, UK

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.

November 9, 2020
Pilot boat approaching a barge on the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon.

#tugboatwilly #tuglife #tugboat #ship #shipping

#MaidenVoyage #HMMalgeciras
The maiden voyage of HMM Algeciras #10-Hamburg: Look at the sunrise in Hamburg, Germany. The city awakes, but the port never sleeps. The HMM Algeciras, the first largest containership in the world, bids farewell to Hamburg.