Hurricane winds Ireland Febuary 2014 from aboard Pilot boat

The entrance to Cork Harbour situated on the South coast of Ireland can produce some pretty extreme sea states during the winter storm months. There are two main factors that influence the sea state at the entrance, the first being the ebbing tide, the second being shoaling waters over the Harbour Rock, this is situated at the entrance to the Harbour off Roches Point lighthouse, right in the middle between the Western and Eastern channel entrances.

Cromarty Firth Port Authority (CFPA) is seeking a contractor to build and deliver a new pilot vessel as part of a major project to upgrade its fleet of vessels. The contract for the work is currently being put out to tender and interested parties are encouraged to apply before the deadline of 8 May, 17.00.

Safehaven Marine based in Ireland have just delivered a pilot vessel for operations at the Port of Berbera in
Somaliland, Africa. ‘Sanaag’ is one of Safehaven’s Interceptor 38 pilot vessels, at 11.9m LOA, a very capable design which proves economical to operate, yet capable of dealing with very rough seas and challenging boarding conditions when required.

Topics: - Identify new safety features in the Connor Foss pilot boat - Review best practices for pilots & crew during river transfers - See how to properly conduct a man overboard drill - Learn techniques for cold water survival

Approche d'un navire gros colis par mauvais temps en 2014. Pilotone Troenn de Lorient

On December 1st 2019 Dublin Port received a delivery of a new Pilot Boat - DPC Tolka.
This 1,195 horsepower 17.1m Orc vessel with a 5.3m Beam & Range 150 can reach greater distances and will allow Dublin Port’s highly skilled marine pilots to board larger ships in all weathers.
DPC Tolka has allowed Dublin Port to upgrade equipment in line with customer investment in new ships and additional capacity on existing routes.
Designed by French Naval Architect Pantocarene for both fuel...

Editors note:
Pilot Boat "Döse" built by A&R

Manoeuvring large ships at close quarters and on shallow water is one of the most difficult aspects of shiphandling because of the complex hydraulic interactions depending on the ships' speeds, on the water depth and on lateral restrictions like in canals. Training is conducted both on meeting and on overtaking ships in shallow waters. This video shows how overtaking in a canal should be conducted: come in close to the stern and then move away from the bow that will be sucked towards your...

This section should give a short introduction to: Operational aspects of AIS Functions and features Human aspects Key Points The AIS transponder unit. Automatic communication. SOLAS requirements. AIS Information sent by ships. Static information update. MMSI Dynamic information update. Voyage related information update. Checking AIS data. BIIT Display Of AIS data. Recommended AIS symbols. Sleeping target symbol. Activated target symbol. Selected target symbol. Dangerous target...