Lynx pilot boat

The AUTOPLAN (Automatic Navigation Assistance System for Planing and Semi-planing Crafts) project kick-off meeting was held on 10th September 2020 with the participation of the project partners and the consultants: Uzmar Shipyard (Project Coordinator-Turkey), Technical University of Berlin (Germany), Friendship Systems AG (Germany), OES-Offshore Engineering Solutions Inc. (Turkey), Mersin University (Consultant-Turkey), SVA Potsdam (Germany) and Piri Reis University (Consultant-Turkey).

vlissingen 2017

In 2020, the Swedish Maritime Administration, Sjöfartsverket commissioned three new pilot vessels to replace retired vessels in its Gothenburg, Marstrand, and Lysekil locations on the country’s west coast.

Southwest Alaska Pilots Association’s new Gladding and Hearn built, C Raymond Hunt designed pilot boat disembarks Capt. Ron Ward at Bligh Reef Pilot Station in Prince William Sound, Alaska March 2020

FASTWATER Consortium and the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) successfully demonstrated a pilot boat that has been converted to operate on Methanol fuel. The demonstration in Stockholm Harbour follows the successful bunkering of the vessel at the SMA pilot station in Oxelösund, Sweden, where the pilot boat will be based.

The Port of Townsville, northern Australia’s largest multi-cargo port, is expanding its fleet of pilot boats to four.

The Port has awarded Hart Marine a $3 million contract to build a 17.3m ORC vessel that is due for delivery later in 2020. The new high-tech vessel will be slightly longer but have the same design features as the PV Osprey which was delivered by Hart Marine in late 2017.

Since the late 2000s, a debate has been sparked on the most suitable age of retirement for Korean pilots. The debate has focused on the extension of retirement age of pilots from 65 to 68 and whether this will affect the probability of marine accidents.