Video

Port of Stockton: River Pilots

published on 17 December 2019 - 243 -

Show comment section |

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

Experiences

What's your opinion on this?

Video Tampa Bay Pilot

published on 6 July 2019

Tampa Bay Pilot

Video Day shift for duty pilot in Gibralta

published on 6 June 2023

Day shift for duty pilot in Gibraltar on 15th October 2016

Video Pilot's Diary Frank 1 3

published on 5 February 2021

A maritime pilot tells us about why he loves switching ships in midstream.

Video North Sea pilots in the storm (documentation, german with subtitles)

published on 20 February 2023

Für Lotsen ist es der gefährlichste Moment in ihrem Berufsalltag: bei orkanartigen Böen von einem Frachtschiff eine Strickleiter herunterklettern und auf ein kleines Lotsenboot übersetzen. Mitte Januar 2023 ist ein Lotse bei Borkum ins Meer gefallen und kam mit Unterkühlungen ins Krankenhaus. Erst wenige Tage zuvor verstarb ein englischer Kollege bei diesem Manöver. Hafenlotse Gerhard Janßen und Seelotse Dominik Thieben machen sich für ihren Einsatz bereit. Bei Windstärke acht geht es mit...

Video Day in the life of a Marine Pilot on the Humber, UK

published on 7 November 2025

Brief snapshot of a day in the life of a Humber marine Pilot.
This was filmed a few years ago, 2019 I think.
Some standards and best practices have changed since then, for instance I would not have my bag on my back while using the pilot ladder now, I would send it down using a heaving line.
#MarinePilot #shiphandling #pilotage #ships #timelapse #humber

Video Lisbon pilot disembarking from Adonia in rough seas (2014)

published on 11 September 2021

The P and O ship Adonia leaving Lisbon on 3-11-14. This was the Pilot's second attempt to leave the ship. A smaller cutter found the seas too rough to take off the Pilot so this larger cutter took over.

Video MSC MIA contacted gantry crane in Valencia Sep 13 2020

published on 13 September 2020

One of the biggest ships in the world, 23,000+ TEU container ship MSC MIA, contacted gantry crane while leaving container terminal at Valencia, Spain, in the morning Sep 13. Crane collapsed, crane operator sustained injures and was hospitalized.

Article Happy new year 2020!

by Marine-Pilots.com - published on 2 January 2020

More than 90,000 pageviews in 3 months. Thank you!

Article MARS-Report: Paltry PPU position predictor

by The Nautical Insitute - published on 18 August 2023

To monitor the vessel’s progress, the pilot had set up his portable pilotage unit (PPU). He had connected the rate-of-turn generator to the vessel’s pilot plug and had set a variable range marker on the radar with a radius of 0.5 nm.