Ships losing power is not uncommon, Columbia River bar pilot says

River Mersey Pilot Boat going slowly inbound on the river before turning and heading northbound again.

On this episode of What's Going On With Shipping, Sal Mercogliano examines the National Transportation Safety Board's Report on the capsizing of the roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier MV Golden Ray in St. Simons Sound, Georgia on September 8, 2019.

According to the International Maritime Pilots Association (IMPA), the ship “Grand Radiant” suffered an incident where the accommodation ladder entire outboard side railing fell away due to a pin becoming loose.

In this study, it was tried to determine the deaths and causes of active pilots (under 65 years old according to the legislation) during the 62 years between 1961 and 2023 in Turkey. Deaths during the retirement period were not included in the study.

The transfer of pilots to and from seagoing vessels should not rely solely on mutual trust and good intentions.

Container ship CMA CGM MISSOURI ran aground in Suez Canal while transiting in southern direction, at around 0930 UTC Oct 14. As of 1745 UTC, probably refloated or moved, several Suez Canal tugs attending. Traffic probably suspended, but it’s not confirmed. No information on what caused grounding.
Container ship CMA CGM MISSOURI, IMO 9679919, dwt 115600, capacity 9448 TEU, built 2016, flag Liberia.

It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.

Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.

Rodman is delivering the latest unit of this model of Rodman 41 pilot boat, specially designed and built for the Cadiz Pilots Corporation and fitted to meet all the Owner's requirements.