Piloting a VLCC from sea to Dolphins 90

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...

Life at Sea

Editor's note: The pilot boarding seems a bit improvised and unsafe to me, but that's certainly business as usual, isn't it?

If you fancy seeing what it’s like aboard during some rough weather sea trials, here’s a pretty cool little video of our Interceptor 48 pilot built for the Port of Sines. Some really great Arial drone footage and interesting POV (Point of view) with narration from aboard her in 5-6m seas and in 50kt winds 25 miles offshore.
How difficult is to land a drone back down on the boat in 5-6m swells and 45-50kt wind gusts? Pretty damn difficult as it turns out! Sometimes we fail as you’ll see at...

On 6 November 2017, the fully laden, mini cape-size dry bulk carrier Orient Centaur was transiting the South Channel, Weipa, Queensland, outbound under the conduct of harbour pilots as part of a trial introduction of this size of ship to the port. While in the South Channel, the ship’s main engine shut down due to a loss of water from a cracked engine cooling component, and propulsion was lost. Shortly after, the ship grounded on the northern batter of the channel. The stern then slowly...

Amid the breathtaking beauty of Tampa Bay, there is a constant current of change for the Tampa Bay harbor pilots. In an ocean that can turn from peaceful to perilous, the pilots are required to have a calm voice and a steady hand.
“You really do have to know how to work under pressure. You’ve got to be quick on your feet. You’ve got to be on point all the time,” pilot Tevin Freeman said.
Read more: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hillsboroughcounty/tampa-bay-pilots-ships-skyway-...

Spectacular (silent) film footage of the construction of the Panama Canal more than a century ago. The film shows the construction of the Miraflores and Gatun locks in detail as well as the digging of "The Culebra Cut" including steam trains, steam shovels and steam dredgers at work and scenes of the locks an the Canal in its first days op operation in 1914. Wikipedia: The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 miles) waterway in Panama that connects the...