Land and Sea: Sea Harbour Pilots

Reflections on his work on the Mississippi River (2014)

Our Pilot Boats play a crucial role in maintaining the daily flow of maritime traffic to and from Belfast Harbour. Working 24/7, 365 days a year, in all kinds of weather conditions, this dedicated team carries out the vital task of bringing the Harbour Pilots out to arriving vessels, where they guide them safely into their berths, as well as disembarking them, often in challenging sea conditions on Belfast Lough.
Kayleigh Ward, our sole female pilot boat crew member, reveals how she gave up...

SENIOR PILOT CAPTAIN ERTAN OZGUR performing departure maneuvering of MSC co ship MSC MARYLENA. She has bowthruster, right handed pitch propeller. She will be using 2 tugboats.

What a great pleasure to meet these guys at the harbour - they could not have been more helpful and forthright about their work. At first glance, the glide of these orange powerboats up and down Belfast Lough seems an almost effortless task, but close up this is a very skilled trade and constant management of risk 24/7 in high and low seas, jumping from ship to boat to land taking safe control of the great volume of steel vessel coming in and out of this busy port. Though a hub of...

From home to work.

A loaded bulk carrier is a bit tricky to handle, do to all that mass: de require a lot of power in order to be stopped. This is why this maneuver are normally slower. Same applies to tankers.

A Port Otago deckhand was seriously injured in a workplace fall yesterday afternoon.

Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said the deckhand on a pilot boat was preparing a ladder to allow a maritime pilot to climb aboard an oil tanker.

QPS is pleased to announce that Qastor 3 is now available on iOS and Windows.

This brand new version of Qastor is a multi functional navigation platform, which has been developed, designed and tested in cooperation with world-class pilots. Explore straightforward navigation software with optimal docking and piloting capabilities.