History: Pilot Ahoy! (1940). A pathetone special

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.

Look at Life Vol 01 Transport Pilot Aboard 1963

The story of Britain's pilotage services.

Found on YouTube. Posted by WickleinGroup

The Maryland Pilots have guided ships to and from Baltimore since the 1700's. They have been chartered as an organization since 1852. This is an edited except from films about the Pilots shot between 1950-1965 for the Port that Built a City and State. The original films are in the archives of the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

“Definitions": ‘Hero’: person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities OR person greatly admired for their exceptional qualities or achievements

‘Hostage’: person seized or held for the fulfilment of a condition OR person who is illegally held prisoner until certain demands are met by others

Video showing marine pilot navigating a cargo ship from Plan du Port

Captain Reginaldo Pantoja, AFNI: "Now, as a professional harbour pilot for over 29 years, I try to apply the lessons I learned during these times and also when I worked as a mooring master, tow master, and dock master."

Found on YouTube. Created by "Rick88888888".
Spectacular (silent) film footage of the construction of the Panama Canal more than a century ago.
The film shows the construction of the Miraflores and Gatun locks in detail as well as the digging of "The Culebra Cut" including steam trains, steam shovels and steam dredgers at work and scenes of the locks an the Canal in its first days op operation in 1914.

Wikipedia: The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 miles) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks, "Miraflores" in the South and "Gatun locks" in the North, are 32.5 m (110 ft) wide.

France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate, caused by malaria and yellow fever. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan and the even less popular route through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait.

Thse footage has been motion-stabilized, speed-corrected, contrast- and brightness enhanced, de-noised, restored, upscaled and colorized by means of state-of-the-art AI sofware.
It took over a month to restore and colorize all available footage, our largest project ever!

This restored film is without sound. The reason is the difficulty to find near one hour of suitable music.

Please help to improve this draft Timeline:
00:00 Miraflores Locks in the South
02:10 Steam shovels in "The Cut"
02:26 West Indian workers drill holes in the rock for explosives
03:44 Not every explosion goes as it should...
04:18 Workers along the railway line
05:40 Steam shovels at work
10:10 Steam trains remove the rocks
11:42 Another blast
12:50 Views from a high point of "The Cut"
14:10 The railway tracks
15:07 Freight trains pass a check point
15:50 Special trains push earth and rocks aside
16:47 Close up view of a special train in action
18:21 West Indian workers shift the railway tracks
19:15 Workers climb up the mountain
20:22 Fresh workers arrive by steam train
21:38 Another day ahead for the workers and the steam shovels
24:22 Shifting a huge drum
24:45 More steam shovels at work
25:16 Steam trains with special equipment
25:58 Workers removing rails
26:30 Gatun locks in the North still under construction
26:52 Flooded rain forest forming Gatun Lake
27:19 The huge lock doors have been installed
27:28 Testing floading the locks
28:48 A lock filling up
29:10 Small ships enter the lock
30:05 A train ride along the canal
30:38 Preparing to blow up the last dam
31:07 Spectators gather for the blasting of the last dam
31:58 Opening a huge valve
32:42 Blasting of the last dam
33:18 Water flows into the Canal
33:27 Dredgers enter the Canal
33:44 More blasting along the Canal
34:20 Gatun locks open
35:32 Numerous ships enter the locks
37:10 The next lock chamber opens
38:46 Small boat with dignatories on the Canal
40:33 Views of the Canal and Gatun Lake
41:05 Dredgers at work to deepen the Canal
41:36 More lock views
43:03 Busy scenes at the locks
43:52 Spectators on the opening lock doors
46:01 A pilot rowing boat on its way to receive the ropes of a ship
46:42 Inner lock chamber scenes
47:45 Lock doors opening
48:49 Ship leaving the locks
49:13 More steam dredgers at work
50:02 Close up view of an active steam dredger
50:36 Rubble is released through the bottom of a barge into the lake
51:18 Flushing rubble away with a watercanon
52:40 Dredgers seen from a high viewpoint
53:52 Final views of the Canal

In view of the amount of available enhanced footage, Part-2 will follow shortly!

“Piloting the vessels was there since there was a sea transportation” This is one of the most popular and might be most proud phrase for pilots. During the maritime history, piloting the vessels evolved in many aspects, however main core is never changed; trustworthy colleague from neighbourhood will be close by for safe passage.

Found on YouTube. Created by "mustapha OULMANE".

Pilotage job at Tanger Med Port. Sailing of APL Lion City from Eurogate Terminal. She is lengthened to 398 m LOA , and increased her capacity to 17,300 TEU.

Found on YouTube. Created by "The Kulasisis BULLEN".
Editors note: A film of a pilot boat has just been published on YouTube with the title "How Dangerous being in a Pilot Boat..." on YouTube. I'm not sure if this really shows a dangerous maneuver, maybe the experts can comment on it here.

But in principle it is problematic to approach the ship in such a small Pilot Boat in the wake from astern and cross the waves there. I remember an accident from Finland in December 2017 where the boat capsized and people died. Is this situation shown here comparable to the one from Finland or is it a comparatively harmless maneuver?

Here are the references to the accident at that time: