APL Belgium rolling near the Farallon Islands pilot station

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...

These are some of the reliable sturdy Pilot boats of Netherlands and Belgium to bring and pick up Marine Pilots to and from commercial merchant vessels either inbound or outbound. The Marine Pilots are licensed PROFESSIONALS who have a thorough knowledge of a certain port and they guide the Master/Captain of commercial ships in and out of the foreign Seaport. Location: Steenbank Pilot Station, Flushing/Vlissingen Pilot Station, Wandelaar Pilot Station. Boats in order of appearance in this...

These are some of the reliable sturdy Pilot boats of Netherlands and Belgium to bring and pick up Marine Pilots to and from commercial merchant vessels either inbound or outbound. The Marine Pilots are licensed PROFESSIONALS who have a thorough knowledge of a certain port and they guide the Master/Captain of commercial ships in and out of the foreign Seaport. Location: Steenbank Pilot Station, Flushing/Vlissingen Pilot Station, Wandelaar Pilot Station. Boats in order of appearance in this...

Barracuda comes to shepherd SS Shieldhall into Poole harbour on the 4th of September 2021. The day the biplane crashed in front of the Haven Hotel at Sandbanks.

The investment in the vessels to work on the busy waterways will see the arrival next year of the next generation of pilot boats built by Holyhead Marine.

Here’s a video of recent Sea trials during ‘Storm Bram’ aboard the ‘all weather’ Interceptor 48 ‘Northeast Pilot III’ we built for the North East pilots at Newport, Rhode Island in the USA. With winds of Storm Force 11 and heavy breaking waves conditions were pretty wild, and proved a good test for her seakeeping abilities, especially her stability where she recovered nicely from a hard 90 degree knock down. Also respect to the seamanship of the captain aboard Fokko Ukena whom we filmed and...

The Supmar series of Camarc pilot boats building in Brazil. The expanding range now includes models at 12m, 13.5m and 16m with further size options in the pipeline.

Comment and photos by Reshma Nilofer Naha
India's first female Marine Pilot (Kalkata Port Trust)