Efficient and safe harbour towage operations

The Container Ship RDO Conception arriving in Prince Rupert after a 10 day voyage from Tokyo. Once in our harbor, she was eased into the container terminal with a little help from SAAM tug boats Orleans and Venta. Filmed using a DJI Mini 2 If you are interested in purchasing a Mini here is a link to my DJI affiliate program. https://click.dji.com/AFpMBjgnYfRjCViNU2HZ_g?pm=link All video footage is owned by Nortcoast Drone and it can be licensed as stock footage. We are certified in...

Port of Dunkerque: A typical working day in the Port of Dunkerque East.
Views of the Port of Dunkerque East and its daily maritime traffic.


Towing: Tugs from Boluda Dunkerque

The European Tugowners Association in collaboration with the European Maritime Pilots Association has produced this informative video on efficient and safe towage operations. These guidelines address the main factors affecting the safety of harbour towage operations such as good communications between pilots, ship captains and tugmasters.

It turns out that supertankers and cruise ships have valets. They're called maritime pilots, and they're among the most elite ship handlers in the world. So where does one go to learn how to park the largest ships in the world? To the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La. There, they use mini-versions of the behemoth boats to teach the basics. All aboard!

Pilots are expert ship handlers who possess detailed knowledge of local waterways. They are transported by high speed "Pilot Boat" or helicopter from shore to an inbound ship and from an outbound ship back ashore. Most ports have compulsory pilotage.

One of my favorite time-lapse videos. Awesome pictures and also great music. What a masterpiece! Thank you Jeffrey! Video by jeffrey@hkon YouTube Follow my life at sea on Instagram @jeffrey.hk www.instagram.com/jeffrey.hk

"No day is the same, and this is what makes the job so interesting.
ANGUS MACAULAY
Pilot, Montrose Port Authority

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.

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuildiing, Duclos Corporation, has taken an order for a rigid-bottom, soft-sided pilot boat from the Lake Pilots. The Resilient class high-speed launch is the Michigan pilots’ third boat built by the Somerset-Mass. Shipyard since 1979.