What does a Bristol Pilot do? This is a short film we made for Bristol Pilots LLP to show what it is these guys do - from climbing up the side of oil tankers in the middle of the night, to bringing in huge ships through a lock with inches to spare either side - the Bristol Pilots do an amazing job.
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.
Location: England Various shots following a river pilot. He is seen disembarking from one boat and climbing up a rope ladder onto a large ship. Various shots of another river pilot, dressed in a cap, woollen jumper and sea faring jacket. He is seen at the wheel of his boat. Various shots of two river police pilots on the River Thames in London. They are filmed in the cab and on the deck of their boat. They pull up alongside some riverboat houses and talk to a woman who owns one of the them....
Eerie fog envelops the Disney Wonder as the cruise ship enters the mouth of the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico. A pilot boat approaches to drop off the Mississippi River boat pilot.
The eerie fog made it look like the ship somehow transported to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
No sign of Captain Jack Sparrow, but he has to be hiding somewhere. Maybe he's at the Crown & Fin Pub having a tot of Navy Strength Pusser's Rum.
Video taken from deck 10 aft near the Palo restaurant.
Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…
