Boarding with pilot ladder - Do you remember your first time?

Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) and other individual MOB devices have been available for some years now and have evolved to incorporate a variety of different alerting methods and combinations. However, usage of these additional enhancements within UK Pilotage is still in its infancy.

SeaSafe - Marine pilot falling off a ships ladder with his integrated life jacket coat

"Rope Ladders" by PTR Holland

The pilot for the port of Cairns jumping off the pilot boat and getting onto the cruise ship. 
Carnival Luminosa December 2024 

At the end of the disembarking procedure, the pilot jumps on ropes onto the pilot boat. Is this often seen practice safe? Can the pilot resolve the situation better?

It is not often that this blog is used to show bad practice, however in this case some pictures tell a whole story. Ship is compliant by design for rigging a combination. How about the operator(s)?

A counterfeit ladder is a pilot ladder that purports to be a genuine approved ladder, from a manufacturer that has been certified by an approved body in the manufacture of pilot ladders to a certified standards.

Turkish Straits , Istanbul Strait , Maritime Pilot , www.turkishpilots.org.tr

This video was produced in September 2013 to provide an easy-to-understand introduction to pilotage in Japan.

There are some problems that never seem to go away and one is the perennial difficulties in providing a safe way of getting pilots on and off a ship.