Ship sailing from Liverpool Docks

It turns out that supertankers and cruise ships have valets. They're called maritime pilots, and they're among the most elite ship handlers in the world. So where does one go to learn how to park the largest ships in the world? To the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La. There, they use mini-versions of the behemoth boats to teach the basics. All aboard!

The Port Pilot, by Richard Blanco. In _Looking for The Gulf Motel_, 2012, University of Pittsburgh Press.

Clint Winegar, Presiding Officer, Houston Pilots, discusses the organization in the round, explaining how the Houston operation remains one of three in the country that still utilizes station boat.

The article was written by Allen Garfinkle, Executive Director – Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun

1st 24,000 TEU vessel, 1st Containers loaded, 1st Port call Qingdao

Sullom Voe Pilot boat out on a task

Ships have reported an increasing number of cases of significant GPS interference and jamming in recent months. The geographic areas with more than one reported incident include the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and multiple Chinese ports.

Here’s a cool video of the latest Interceptor 48 pilot boat we’ve launched for the Gdynia Pilots in Poland. We captured some nice alongside ship footage during the sea trials, and had a chance to test out our new drone ‘catch net’ on Thunder Child.

It was in fact 25 June 1871 when King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy, by Royal Decree 345, established a Pilot Corps in the port of Civitavecchia (60 kilometres north of Rome).