Pilot boarding ship - ice bound harbour.

Boarding a vessel at sea can be dangerous. By following simple rules, it can be done safely. This safety video shows you how to leave the launch boat and climb the ladder when boarding vessels at sea safely as well as boarding preparations, safety precautions and boarding under special conditions. The 3 types of boarding arrangements for pilot are also explained. Watch with sound on. Transfers are normally safe when everyone takes all the precautions. If you think it is unsafe, remember to...

Pilot transfer arrangement is a sensitive topic to be discussed among the pilot’s fraternity. Although ships are designed and operated with compliance to the SOLAS requirements in all respects including the pilot transfer arrangements, there has been numerous deficiencies observed related to pilot transfer arrangements. The small deficiencies from the part of ships cause life threatening accidents for pilots and sometimes to the ship staff themselves. There are many instances of defective ladder and complacency in proper rigging of ladders has been reported almost every day in different parts of the world. Many pilots lost their life, severely injured for life and face many minor to major accidents. The latest incident being the Capt. Timothy Murray of Sandy hooks Pilot.

Commercial video by PTR Holland. Published by Marine-Pilots.com

Pilot going onboard, using pilot ladder port side, 1,5 meters above the water.

This article was first published in January 2022: The safety aspects of the maritime autonomy solutions need to be addressed. In order to develop maritime autonomy in the first stage in Finland, the Sea4Value / Fairway (54VF) research program has been established to create automated remote fairway pilotage features in the near future.

Built by Luke Powell and his working Sail Yard in Truro, Cornwall, launched in February 2020. The lines were taken from the Vincent, a Falmouth Pilot cutter built in 1852 for the Vincent family of St Mawes. She worked for 70 years as a pilot boat, finally retiring in 1922 and ending her days as a houseboat on the Percuil River very close to the yard where she had been built. When the idea to build a new pilot cutter of considerable size was born, the lines of Vincent were seen as the...