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.

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.

How do marine pilots work? Example: Bringing a bulkcarrier alongside to „Hansaport“ in Hamburg. Here the tugboats „Prompt“, „Resolute“ and „Bulldog“ are involved. The master has to rely on the pilot. One reason is, that he can‘t know how to deal with these tugs. A maneuver like this is only safe, when the pilot has a lot of practical experience. A master who is doing a maneuver like this only about once or twice a month and each time with tugs he doesn’t know in areas he hasn’t been to...

After spending years at sea, Brett Monthie had to chart the channels in Tampa Bay from memory in order to become a Tampa Bay harbor pilot. And then he spent 30 months in training.

Some words on cruise ships and their compliance with SOLAS ch.V reg 23, IMO A.1045(27)? At the start of 2020 a pandemic we haven’t seen before in hundreds of years has struck the world, putting economies to a halt and had a devastating effect on the beautiful cruise business.

My background Why does a ship need a marine pilot How did we get here b.w.o training and qualification? Background history of Reef Pilots Info on different pilot stations within the Great Barrier Reef Torres Straits with its complex tides Our commute to work - boat & helicopter videos Different types of ships, cargoes and nationalities trading within the Great Barrier Reef Work life onboard.... the good, the bad and the ugly Some trivia and fun facts about mariners’ life at sea

Comment and photos by Reshma Nilofer Naha
India's first female Marine Pilot (Kalkata Port Trust)

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.

Compmillennia LLC (Washington, North Carolina, U.S.A.) has delivered its Lightspeed® 41 (15.5-meter) Pilothouse catamaran, featuring strong but lightweight all-composite construction with a 42-knots achieved by twin 300-hp V8 Mercury Seapro outboard engines.