Land and Sea: Sea Harbour Pilots

The 160 pilots allotted to the PZ are distributed in eight pilot companies responsible for attending ships that seek the ports or terminals of Santana (AP), Munguba (PA), Santarém (PA), Trombetas (PA), Juruti (PA) and Itacoatiara (AM), as they sail upriver (against the current).

Among the few marine professions that purse a man's technical skills and value very high, maritime piloting perhaps is in a class of its own. In this career, the pilot is entrusted to maneuver vessels through some of the most challenging and congested waterways while ensuring seamless integration between shipboard operations and port infrastructure.

Chapter 3 from the book "Crossing the Bar, The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot" by Captain Paul Lobo, available on Amazon (link below)

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.

Case Study: A study conducted for Fremantle Ports on vessel interacting within the harbour.

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...

Matthias Meyer was head of the Bremerhaven port pilots, nautical expert and lecturer at maritime schools. In front of our camera, he voices what has long been a topic of discussion in shipping circles: that the 400-meter container ships have simply become too big for the narrow shipping channels of the Weser and Elbe. In his view, a serious accident is only a matter of time. We take a look at how the district is dealing with these giants and what politicians, BUND and shipowners have to say...