In our new new section “Five questions for ..." Marine-Pilots.com introduces pilots and other market players to our readers in short interviews.

Today we have talked to Olli Taipale, Chief Pilot at Finnpilot.

A story I shot on the Delaware river pilots, very cool people who have a very important job. Every cargo ship that has to get anywhere up the Delaware River gets a pilot delivered to it while in the Delaware Bay, who guides it up through the narrow shoals

This article was first published back in February 2022: According to the International Group of P & I Clubs’ “Report on P&I claims involving vessels under pilotage 1999-2019”, over the last twenty years, there were 1,046 incidents in which pilot error either caused or contributed to those events.

Women’s rights and gender equality are taking centre stage in 2020. But for some women, the fear of gender discrimination has never stopped them from pursuing their dream and Ms Amelia Pickering, a Harbour Pilot, is one of them.
Inspired by her father, she shares how she started her journey in the Maritime industry and some of the challenges she faced being a female Harbour Pilot.

Video by Capt. Pilot Herman Broers, Netherlands.
Inbound with CHIOS LUCK 188m, to Waalhaven Buoy 29 for discharging woodchips from Mobile Alabama. #loodswezen #portofrotterdam

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 Swedish Maritime Administration is launching the world's first fully methanol-powered pilot boat today, It is one of the ministry's existing pilot boats, which has now been converted to test the new propellant. The work is part of the Swedish Maritime Administration's transition to a fossil-free fleet.

We’re doing another day of testing with the self-propelled scale model of T-2000. Obviously the conditions here do comprehensively exceed the designs operational envelope, as in scale proportion to the model, the waves must be I guess around 10-20 metres in size. However it’s interesting to understand the designs ultimate limits. The model is built to a scale of fourteen to one, and this equals 20 metres in real life size. Later, by slowing down the video, so that it matches the speed of...

Article originally published in SWZ|Maritime September 2022

Through the years, the Dutch Pilots have developed a system of selection, initial education and continual professional training. What is the current state of affairs?

The Baltic Workboats US wave-piercing, high-performance, self-righting aluminum pilot boat cuts through rough seas with ease, featuring superior sea keeping abilities, low vibration, low noise levels and high fuel efficiency all thanks to its advanced, modern design.