Milford Pilots during lock down (Pilot Movie 3)

Crude Oil Tanker British Robin passing St Anns Head on a rather windy day in Pembrokeshire.

The Port of Milford Haven’s new pilot vessel has reached a key project milestone with a successful launch in the Netherlands, where the craft is currently under construction.

A beautiful day, climbing up the (not-so-well-rigged) pilot ladder and then the stairs of the accommodation towards the bridge.

Like many seafarers I have long been a keen follower of The Nautical Institute’s MARS programme, and along with many other members I listened to the recent webinar on that topic. One theme which was repeated more than once was that it is better to learn from someone else’s misfortune rather than have it happen to you. Having personally been involved in two near misses resulting from unsafe pilot transfer arrangements in a relatively short space of time, I asked how experiences and knowledge specifically about pilot ladder safety could best be promulgated to avoid repeating common accidents or near misses.

August 2022, tanker Thun London and Foyle Leader pilot vessel. www.nightskyhunter.com

The L-type is the compact and fully-electric solution for transferring crews from small, non-DP vessels onto fixed or floating structures. With its continuous flow of personnel, it can transfer 50 people in five minutes. More from Ampelmann Operations: Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ampelman... Website: https://www.ampelmann.nl/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmpelmannOpe... LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ampe...

When publishing articles or pictures about pilots and their pilot ladders, very often we see the use of backpacks. The use of backpacks is controversial, since its weight, or buoyancy, can influence the functioning of the lifejacket used.

The Dutch coaster Mv. Stroombank is leaving the port of Figueira da Foz in Portugal. Normally operations are restricted to daylight only, but because bad weather was forecasted for the days to come we've received an exemption and were allowed to depart during dark hours. Cargo operations were running close to the departure deadline so we quickly secured the cargo and prepared the vessel for sea. The tide was running out so we used the forward spring to keep position as we went slow astern...