Video

Port of Stockton: River Pilots

published on 17 December 2019 - 243 -

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The San Francisco Bar Pilots are one of the important cogs in our supply chain wheel. They are tasked with boarding the vessels eleven miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge via a rope ladder often in rough seas and taking control of the vessels en route to the Port of Stockton. Once on the bridge of the ship, the Pilot oversees navigation and ensures the safe passage of ships into the Bay and through the Delta until it is secured alongside its berth at the Port. Without these Pilots the Port could not perform its mission to provide jobs and economic stability for the region. Within the larger San Francisco Bar Pilots Association there is a smaller subdivision that is approved to take vessels all the way to the Port of Stockton. They are called the River Pilots and this is their story…

San Francisco, Port Stockton

San Francisco Bar Pilots

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Video Tampa Bay Pilot

published on 6 July 2019

Tampa Bay Pilot

Opinion Harbor Pilots, the Boeing 737 MAX and Automation

by Capt. Jim Wright , Southwest Alaska Pilots Association (retired) - published on 5 March 2020

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published on 17 December 2025

By 2001, the Houston Pilots led the way in hiring minorities and women, and a few years later it formed a nonprofit called Anchor Watch, to offer scholarships to maritime students in need and boost opportunities for minority and women candidates. Captain Holly Cooper joined the Houston Pilots in 1994 as the group’s 151st pilot and the first woman to begin training as a deputy.

Article Container ship grounding, Mar del Plata, Argentina

published on 22 January 2021

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Article Education And Training Of Pilots In The Netherlands

by Eline van der Vlist-Lammers (Coordinator education and training for STODEL) and Ed Verbeek (Master Mariner) - published on 30 September 2022

Article originally published in SWZ|Maritime September 2022

Through the years, the Dutch Pilots have developed a system of selection, initial education and continual professional training. What is the current state of affairs?

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by Herman Broers - published on 8 January 2025

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published on 10 April 2025

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Article Interactive pilot ladder poster by UKMPA

by United Kingdom Maritime Pilots Association - published on 14 August 2025

By going trough this poster, you’ll find the regulations accessible by tapping on the various items in this poster.