History: Trinity House Buoys (1966)

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.

Time Lapse Video: An inbound LNG carrier arrives at the Port of Rotterdam. At sea, in the Eurogeul channel, two maritime pilots have joined the vessel. Between the breakwaters four harbour tugs (Smit Harbour Towage) make fast to assist her manoeuvre. In the Beerkanaal channel the LNG carrier is stopped and swung before entering the Nijlhaven harbour. While approaching LNG Jetty 1 the ship's mooring lines are taken ashore by mooringboats (Koninklijke Roeiers Vereeniging Eendracht).
Pilot...

In Singapore, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots met the high standard certification criteria set by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and have been awarded with the Straits Pilot Certificate. Hence, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots are certified to provide Voluntary Pilotage Services in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Only PSA Marine can provide a seamless transit to/from the rendezvous point and any destinations in Singapore.
Since 2001, PSA Marine has been providing...

Ich bin zu Besuch beim Lotsbetriebsverein in Bremerhaven und unterhalte mich mit dem Ältermann Jan-Helge Jannsen über das Lotswesen in Deutschland. Wir fahren außerdem mit dem Lotsenboot raus und begleiten Lotsen und die Crew auf den Versetzern bei einem Einsatz.

When I was a deck officer back in the early nineties I worked on a ship that used to load grain at different ports along the Mississippi river. The name of the ship was Golden Hope, a 600 feet long dry bulk carrier with a 95 feet in beam. An average size vessel for those days' standards.

„In God we trust“ - this short sentence can be found on the one dollar note.
Marine Pilots for example are experts in trusting. They simple have to be....

How to get information for wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current? - this will be described in this movie:
- Measure Drift speed, due to beam wind with no propulsion;
- Measure drift speed using full thrusters
- Estimate wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current...
- Finally there is a simple formula as Rule of Thumb: the transverse drift speed is about 7-8% of wind speed!

Pilot boat launch in Youghal on July 2012.