Ship sailing from Liverpool Docks

Today I will discuss a very simple and useful practical trick often used by pilots.

When we have to berth a vessel with small clearances forward and aft (say 20 to 25 mtr fwd and aft) it is very essential that you are able to estimate your position. Now most of the time you have a berthing supervisor on jetty who will help you with position.

When I was a deck officer back in the early nineties I worked on a ship that used to load grain at different ports along the Mississippi river. The name of the ship was Golden Hope, a 600 feet long dry bulk carrier with a 95 feet in beam. An average size vessel for those days' standards.

Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on the important role of tugboats in navigating the bigger vessels in harbors and canal, as well as the open seas.

A busy morning with all three pilot services on jobs at Point Lonsdale, Victoria, Australia.
Ship spotting at Point Lonsdale and other water activities.

In this video, you can take a look at what happened when the Napoli broke her back and was run aground on the south coast of the UK.

Like many seafarers I have long been a keen follower of The Nautical Institute’s MARS programme, and along with many other members I listened to the recent webinar on that topic. One theme which was repeated more than once was that it is better to learn from someone else’s misfortune rather than have it happen to you. Having personally been involved in two near misses resulting from unsafe pilot transfer arrangements in a relatively short space of time, I asked how experiences and knowledge specifically about pilot ladder safety could best be promulgated to avoid repeating common accidents or near misses.

HDV video from a go pro on the mast of an Interceptor 48 Pilot boat at sea during hurricane force winds off Cork, Ireland in February 2014, as well as a few other HD go pro clips. Video by boat builders Safehaven Marine. www.safehavenmarine.com

Take a virtual 360 degree look at the dangers faced by San Francisco Bay bar pilots. Website: http://kpix.com/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/CBSSanFrancisco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CBSSanFrancisco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kpixtv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KPIXtv

Tour Scotland 4K Winter travel video of the Pilot Vessel SKUA returning to Hawes Pier below the Forth Railway Bridge on visit to South Queensferry near Edinburgh.