In early December, just as I was starting to get into ship spotting, I saw a couple of vessels headed up river towards Philly. One of them, the Cielo di Iyo met with the harbor pilot right as I had my drone up. I was able to capture the Pilot coming to meet the vessel and CLIMBING the ladder to get on board just before she passed beneath the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Ever wonder how Pilots board a massive container ship at sea? Well, like this!
This is done year round in every major Port around the world, in all types of weather.

life of boat pilot

Latest Version: Necessary knowledge about pilot ladders by PTR Holland. Very good summary! Download free of charge.

Watch Orion, one of the two new boats of Jacobsen Pilot Service in Long Beach, Calif. in action. Designed by Tim Nolan Marine Design of Port Townsend, Wash., these boats with waterjet propulsion were built from composite materials at Nordlund Boat Company in Tacoma, Wash. Video courtesy of John Harris.

In it´s August 2022 monthly safety scenario, the Swedish Club describes an accident where a pilot had fallen into the water, after one of the side ropes of the ladder broke.

The man was working as a Marine Pilot for ABP when he fell into the water on Sunday afternoon. The circumstances surrounding his death are not yet known

In this paper, the risk of ship pilotage in Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River is studied by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation: risk factor identification, risk evaluation and decision making suggestion.