KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

Vessel name: Polaris ; Year built: 2012 ; Flag: Netherlands ; Homeport: Rotterdam Length: 81.2m X 13.3m ; GRT: 2501 ; Callsign: PBZN ; MMSI:245142000 ; IMO: 9496915 Type: Special Vessel / Pilot Ship A "Pilot Ship / Pilot Vessel" is a "special type" of ship in which it accommodates a certain and limited Marine Pilots (Sea, River, Harbor Pilots), it also carries small boats/crafts that are used to tender services to and from the Pilot ship. In a Pilot Vessel, the Pilots can take their time...

IMPA has published examples of best practice together with a letter from Capt. Simon Pelletier, President of IMPA.

Who pays when a pilot is injured on a ladder that should never have been rigged?
An opinion piece by Arie Palmers, maritime pilot, the Netherlands

Bulker Energy cosmos ( 229/32 m ) swinging and berthing in Rouen ( Normandy - France ) to Soufflet Silo

Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure has supplied its advanced navigation and piloting solutions for pilotage applications to facilitate the safe and efficient berthing of vessels and to increase safety of larger vessels at Peel Ports Group.

Alberta's government is proposing to partner with Indigenous communities to build a new West Coast oil export project. In B.C. waters, oil tanker spill prevention depends on locally operated escort tugboats and expert local marine pilots, who safely guide tankers in and out of port. On the southern tip of Vancouver Island, escort tugboats are operated in partnership with the Scia’new First Nation in the community’s territorial waters.

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.

by BAIRD MARITIME: France's JFA Yachts recently handed over a new self-righting boat to the Le Havre Pilot Station.