Look at Life - Pilot Aboard 1963

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

Let us start a journey back in time. Back to the black and white films of history. The times have changed, but it is good to know what kind of things have changed and where are the roots of pilotage.

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!

"No day is the same, and this is what makes the job so interesting.
ANGUS MACAULAY
Pilot, Montrose Port Authority

They look like toy boats, but they serve a serious purpose. An outsider at this facility near Grenoble, France, may see grown men riding arounda lake in miniature ships. But these are pilots of the world's largest ships, and they're practicing navigation with meticulously engineered 1:25 scale models of real cruisers, tankers, and containerships. Port Revel Shiphandling Training Centre, in operation since 1967, has had more than 6,000 maritime pilots and merchant ship officers from all over...

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

Elizabeth Marami, 28, has made history by becoming Kenya’s first female marine pilot. Born and bred in the coastal city Mombasa, Marami initially studied law at the University of Nairobi, but later changed course and went on to pursue navigation in Alexandria, Egypt for 5 years. “I always grew up knowing that I wanted to do something different, Something out of the ordinary. Being awarded a scholarship to pursue this career was God’s answered prayer…,” she says.

Already published for the first time in September 2020: Maritime piloting operations involve on-call work schedules that may lead to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. The study documented pilot work scheduling practices.

Bulk carrier COFCO 1 with 41,900 tons of soybean resumed sailing downstream after grounding, which took place on May 25-26, but at around 0630 UTC May 27 she ran aground again, this time in San Pedro area at 269 kilometer mark, Parana river.