A containership collided with a Pilot boat inside taipei harbour

off Taipei, bit choppy seas

Chief officer of bulk carrier İNCE EGE fell into water from pilot ladder while trying to read draft marks at Taman port, Russia, Black sea, understood early in the morning Feb 4, at nigh time.

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.

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s (MAIB) has published their latest annual report showing that pilot ladders remain a safety issue for workers.

Pilot boats are an essential part of our maritime world where they provide safe passage for ships to and from the harbor. The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) has 23 pilot stations in Sweden.

The Pacific Guardian pilot boat is first seen in Victoria Harbour near Ogden Point before making her way to Point Hope Maritime Shipyard for a full refit. This video captures the entire move process, from the cradle lowering into the harbour, to the careful docking of the vessel, to her move across the turntable and onto the spur line. Some of the footage has been sped up, since the cradle lowering and lifting are slow, deliberate operations where every movement is checked and rechecked....

This article was published some time ago but is still up to date: The study focuses on maritime pilotage in seven European countries and analyzes the level of job satisfaction and its predictors.