Pilot Mohammed Bida is a marine pilot who doubles as the Habour Master, Calabar Port. His skill and precision at work has earned him local and international recognition and double promotion at work. Here's inside Pilot Bida's day.

Tuesday, October 1st is the start date of the latest International Maritime Pilot Association's annual Safety Campaign.

Previous campaigns by the association have consistently shown results of pilot ladder deficiencies around the 20% mark.

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.

This what a normal work day looks like for a port pilot.
A 24 hour shift shown in 11 minutes.
Recorded in Santa Marta, Colombia.

The transfer of pilots to and from seagoing vessels should not rely solely on mutual trust and good intentions.

This episode of What's Going On With Shipping examines the videos showing the Brazilian training ship Cisne Branco striking a bridge in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

A good working relationship with the pilot, effective Master Pilot Information Exchange at the start of the pilotage followed by well performing Bridge Resource Management during the pilotage passage, are important factors in a successful pilotage.

The Chinese container freighter "CSCL Star" belongs to the class of Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS) and is one of the largest ships that can enter the port of Hamburg.

Today, we embark on a voyage into the intricate world of ship types. From massive container ships to nimble oil tankers, we'll explore the unique challenges each vessel presents.