Port of Stockton: River Pilots

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.

Evening Pilotage of inward entry to Rio De Janeiro on Aframax tanker.

Lately there has been a considerable increase in opinions of seagoing ship´s masters complaining about pilotage services, expressed whether as LinkedIn articles and comments or in some reputable industry magazines.

Electronic warfare in the Baltic Sea is escalating rapidly, with GPS and AIS disruptions posing growing risks to maritime navigation. Russia’s hybrid strategy is targeting both safety and stability in one of Europe’s most critical shipping regions. Pilots and crews now face a new reality: navigating under threat.

Time Lapse Video:The deep draught VLCC PISCES STAR is approaching the Port of Rotterdam, after navigating through the Eurogeul and Maasgeul deep water channels in the Southern North Sea. The VLCC is proceeding in Calandkanaal channel to her berth in the Petroleumharbour No. 5.
Before coming alongside the VLCC is stopped and swung in the channel. Four harbour tugs are made fast to assist the manoeuvring vessel. Mooringboats bring the VLCC's steel mooring wires ashore when she is coming...

Mission ended well and disembarked on 13/12/2021. She didn't. Weekes later she caught major fire and sank South of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, the crew abandoned the ship and no casualties were reported.

It will replace the "Coatham" pilot vessel which will now find a new home at the Port of Tyne after racking up 800,000 miles servicing the River Tees over a 20-year period.

Saying goodbye to our new built vessels are never easy. This pilot boat is the 16th delivered to Finnpilot Pilotage by Kewatec AluBoat.

Pilotage is being able to navigate safely into and out of a harbour/anchorage/port knowing where you are at all times, where your hazards are and a safe route in/out. This is particularly useful if you are heading into somewhere new or a challenging/busy area – or both!

RightShip continues its webinar series on pilot ladder arrangements. On September 18th, they´re asking two marine pilots to share their first-hand perspectives on pilot ladder arrangement best practices.