Ship piloting in pandemic times in Santa Marta, Colombia

As a rule, every pilot has the right to refuse an unsafe ladder. Safety first! A brave pilot is not the one who uses an unsafe ladder, but the one who, in case of doubt, asks for a different ladder or a different setting.
Unfortunately, too many pilots climb a dubious ladder when in doubt.

This lady came into port in an excellent day, however when I inspected the pilot ladder prior to board I saw that it was rigged using D-Shackles fastened between the side ropes, transferring all the weight and load of the ladder to the clamps and chokes. Truly an unsuitable method of securing the ladder. Retrieval line was also not above the first spreader
After pulling out the pilot boat, the ship was contacted by VHF and the captain was asked to instruct the crew in the usage of ropes and...

Great pictures from Estonia

It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.

Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

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…

Irish boatbuilder Safehaven Marine recently handed over a new pilot boat to the Port of Ferrol in northwestern Spain. Named Punta Do Cruceiro, the vessel was designed for operation even under challenging conditions in the waters in that region of the Atlantic.

Incredibly huge container ships sea giants mega ships. Shipspotting ships observation of cargo ships, tankers, pilots, container ships, oil tankers and many more. Special highlight is the boarding of a pilot on the DFDS ferry. The pictures were taken on 18.03.2022 at the North Sea coast in Cuxhaven, Germany. I was able to spot the following ships: Hapag Lloyd Nagoya Express - container ship Aries J - container ship KESS Seine Highway - RORO Ferry Susanne - working ship Autumn - tanker...

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