We bid farewell to our Otaru marine pilot just outside Otaru Harbor, Japan. The crew of the pilot tug were particularly fastidious about not marking up the side of the Viking Orion during the operations, spraying the interface with water, even though that might have made the transfer more hazardous for the pilot. From the Viking Orion, October 2024

Pilot onboard disembarking vessel ship #shorts

Editors note: There was a reason why this idea of a kind of ladder-elevator did not become accepted!

Drydocking or undocking is always a difficult task, particularly with a “dead” vessel (no power/propulsion) and the wind blowing on the ship's side.

What does it take to become a Harbor Pilot in the Philippines

The Master and Chief Engineer of the log-carrier MV Funing, have today been sentenced and fined after admitting charges relating to the grounding of the ship at the Port of Tauranga in July.

Master Liang Guang Hong and Chief Engineer Chameekara Prasad Nanayakkara both entered guilty pleas in the Tauranga District Court on 10 September to charges brought by Maritime NZ under the Maritime Transport Act (MTA) 1994.