The Maryland Pilots between 1950-1965 (a journey through time)

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.

The Port Pilot, by Richard Blanco. In _Looking for The Gulf Motel_, 2012, University of Pittsburgh Press.

Port Authority of New South Wales manages the navigation, security and operational safety needs of commercial shipping in Sydney Harbour, Port Botany, Newcastle Harbour, Port Kembla, Eden and Yamba.

Finnish Pilots at work.

Genova – Il gigantismo navale? Ha creato una nuova e complessa procedura per accogliere le nuove navi a Genova, ma di fatto ha ridotto le accostate e quindi il numero di pilotaggi, richiedendo un costante aggiornamento e la messa a punto, di volta in volta, di nuove manovre studiate prima a tavolino dai servizi tecnico nautici del porto e poi provate almeno una volta da tutti i piloti prima di diventare prassi consolidata. La nuova diga, inoltre, sta dando e darà ulteriore lavoro cambiando l'attività dei Piloti del Porto di Genova.

Briggs Marine invited High Impact Media (https://media.hi-impact.co.uk/) to spend a few hours on one of our Pilot Launch Vessels to help us demonstrate the day to day efforts of our crew in Liverpool.

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.