Marine Pilots

The Brightlingsea Harbour Commission of Essex, UK, recently took delivery of a new pilot boat built by Seaward Boat Development Company based on the Isle of Wight.

This documentary made in 1959 in the popular Look at Life series is from Volume 5 - Cultural History and takes a journey along the River Thames passing several famous buildings and monuments such as - County Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Shell Mex House which has the biggest clock face in London. Cleopatra's Needle, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Port of London Authority, Prospect of London Pub, Port of London Docks.

Drydocking or undocking is always a difficult task, particularly with a “dead” vessel (no power/propulsion) and the wind blowing on the ship's side.

MT DELTA PIONEER sailed from Europoort, in Port of Rotterdam to sea. On arrival at the pilot station the Pilot Station Vessel PROCYON was on station to pick up the pilot from this 250 m long vessel.

Giant Container Ship EVER GIVEN grounded and blocked Suez canal AIS data shows the MV Ever Given is stuck sideways within the canal, preventing ships from passing in either direction,Several tugs have been on scene for several hours working to dislodge the ship ,An ultra-large containership is aground and blocking ship traffic in the Suez Canal

WESTDIEP PILOT (IMO: 9568988) is a Pilot Ship that was built in 2011 (10 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Belgium.

The mega containership M/V Ever Given which is free from the Suez Canal. Captain John Konrad discusses how they did it and what happens next! MV Ever Given Freed! Suez Canal Set for Reopeninghttps://gcaptain.com/mv-ever-given-freed-suez-canal-set-for-reopening/ Suez Chaos Will Take Months To Clear Says Maersk https://gcaptain.com/suez-chaos-will-take-months-to-clear-says-maersk/ New York’s Ever Given Crisis Is Bigger Than Egypt’s But Buttigieg Sits Silent https://gcaptain.com/destroy-city-...

The following short clip appeared on TikTok recently, showing a non compliant trapdoor arrangement, and a pilot using it. From this short video, the dangers of this kind of arrangement are very clear.

She was the talk of the town and now she is gone till the next time. The Navios Unite, as she is called, is 1,100' long and 140' wide. That is 8' longer than a Nimitz class aircraft carrier and 6' wider at the waterline. The ship is so wide, it requires two pilots to transit. While in the top 5, it isn't the largest ship of any type to ever transit the river, but it is the largest container ship to do so.