Electronic warfare in the Baltic Sea is escalating rapidly, with GPS and AIS disruptions posing growing risks to maritime navigation. Russia’s hybrid strategy is targeting both safety and stability in one of Europe’s most critical shipping regions. Pilots and crews now face a new reality: navigating under threat.
Port authorities in Antwerp, Belgium, are making use of EMSA’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) to support their day-to-day monitoring of port operations and rapid response to pollution incidents in the port area. The RPAS will enable the authorities to inspect at a distance their complex port environment which extends over an area of some 120km².
In 2006 I was invited to join Port of London Pilot Capt. Tom Miller on one of his last few voyages before his retirement. A pilot cutter ferried us from the Gravesend Port office to the Port of London Terminal where the Hebridean Spirit waited for us to board. Once aboard, the ship's captain manoeuvred the vessel off its moorings and into the channel. After handing the vessel over to Capt. Miller, the Captain joined the ship's company for dinner, and the first offer and a helmsman remained...
