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.

Container ship SHAHRAZ and bulk carrier SAMUDRA SAKTI I are reported to run aground in Singapore Strait south of St John Island at around 1900 UTC May 10, close to each other, while proceeding in the same direction, probably trying to avoid collision. As of 0700 UTC May 11, both ships remain in the same positions, coordinates don’t change. SHAHRAZ is en route from Port Klang to Yangshan China, SAMUDRA SAKTI I is en route from Belawan to Bayah, southwest Java.

The breakaway and subsequent grounding of oil products tanker CSC Friendship in the Port of Brisbane highlights that port infrastructure and associated shipping can be exposed to dynamic hazards, which includes the inherent uncertainty of extreme weather forecasts.

The container ship "Mumbai Maersk" ran aground off the island of Wangerooge. A first rescue attempt failed.

Comment of Harry Klenner (Presidente de la Asociación Chilena de Prácticos de Puerto): Nowadays, apart from having to take measures to avoid contagion with the Covid-19, port pilots have to consider another factor that has become present on the planet and which, by the way, our country has not been unaware of.

Marine Pilot, Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi MNI broke the bias and started her career as a trainee pilot in 2011 and she has never looked back.

Tug power has increased considerably over recent decades. Today, some ship handling tugs have a bollard pull of more than 100 tons. In addition, high tug power can be installed in ever smaller compact hulls.

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

For nearly 150 years, the Bar Pilots have protected our environment by safely guiding ocean-going vessels through our waterways.