The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority has suggested a possible mistake by the captain of the Ever Given could have led to the grounding of the giant container ship in the waterway last month.

London Pilots (PLA) have issued an excellent quick reference guide for Pilot Transfer arrangements, which can be used for pilots as well as ship’s crews. Please take not of this document and if you can, try to incorporate it into your procedures.

The latest MS Amlin Marine circular, compiled by theTechnical Loss Prevention Consultant Peter van der Kroft, focuses on the importance of pilot safety in marine navigation.

The three main french pilotage stations in the Channel - North Sea have changed their recruitment conditions for taking a pilotage examination.

One hundred and sixty-seven years ago, what was once a pilots’ association became Pernambuco Pilot Station. On February 28th of 1854, Pilot Station 9 first appeared in the port of Recife, and was to assume the current configuration with the development of the Suape port complex, in the Ipojuca municipality, 40 kilometers away. In the fourth article of the series on Brazilian ZPs of this edition, Rumos Práticos reveals the main challenges met in the state of Pernambuco by the pilot station, which today joins in implementing new operations and overcoming infrastructure bottlenecks.

"Analysis of reports indicates that pilot ladders (Pilot Transfer Arrangements, or PTAs) and
intentional deviations from safety procedures remain the main causes of near misses..."

From our deck 12 cabin balcony, some footage of the pilot boat coming alongside Virgin Voyages' cruise ship Scarlet Lady in the Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. If you're expecting action and excitement then brace yourself for not quite that at all, but it is fairly impressive how close the pilot boat gets to the larger vessel, bouncing around on the waves. I did want to see the pilot leap from the ship to the boat but in truth got tired of waiting so if that's the bit...

The man-overboard manoeuvre includes all measures to rescue a person who has fallen overboard from a watercraft.

Compilation clip highlighting some of the diverse custom boats Dongara Marine has built in recent years.