Port of Stockton: River Pilots

Impressive pictures from Colombia: MV Malcom arrived on June the 20th carrying the first wind generators for the "Guajira 1" project.

It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.

Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.

After spending years at sea, Brett Monthie had to chart the channels in Tampa Bay from memory in order to become a Tampa Bay harbor pilot. And then he spent 30 months in training.

The debate is whether highly skilled pilots could have successfully overcome the recent Boeing 737 MAX computer deficiencies. Will this question eventually be relevant to harbor pilot skills?

The pilots make docking mega-ships look easy despite the meteorological disturbance.
Great pictures from Morocco

The ICS Guide to Helicopter/Ship Operations is the industry standard best practice guide for shipping companies, ships’ crew and helicopter operators.

Using pictures and sketches, this video finally explains the difference between gross tonnage (GRT) and net tonnage (NRT); the ship spaces that are included/excluded in their calculation; and the importance of these terms to ship owners.
Contents of this video will benefit mariners preparing for exams (written and oral examinations).

This week, Kewatec handed over another popular boat, Kewatec Pilot 1630, to the pilot boat operator Gdańsk Pilot in Poland. The fast pilot boat is self-righting and designed with extraordinary safety performance for both the pilots and boat operators.

Associated British Ports (ABP) the UK’s largest and best-connected port operator, has commissioned a fleet of nine new state-of-the art pilot boats from Goodchild Marine Services, representing an investment of around £9 million to further enhance port operations across its network.