Marine pilot transfer Port Botany

On April 20, 2026, the Columbia River Bar Pilots conducted a MOB drill with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Astoria.

Boat to boat Pilot transfer, to the Pilot Vessel Golden Gate, under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

This is a video I had captured off U.S Coast from a merchant vessel as the Pilot was transferred from our Ship to Shore via Helicopter.
All recordings were done using N8 (unbelievable clarity!)

Safehaven Marine build a range of vessels for many different operational roles such as patrol, survey, crew transfer to name a few, but what makes Safehaven unique is that we specialize in pilot boats, with 80% of our production dedicated to just this area, and have supplied over 50 pilot craft all around the world over the last 17 years.

The new 56-ft. Virginia Pilots launch is powered by a pair of Volvo Penta D13 700 hp EPA Tier 3 engines matched with IPS-3 steerable pod drives with forward-facing counter-rotating props. The propulsion system includes Volvo Penta’s EVC electronic steering and control system with a three-axis joystick. Top speed is 33+ knots.

I’ve wanted to visit the Warsash Maritime School ship-handling centre since before I ever set foot on a ship. It’s visited by pilots from all over the world for the kind of specialist training, realistic simulations and real-world expertise you rarely get elsewhere.
As a Tug Master, I handle ships by pulling and pushing them around, so to see these intricate manoeuvres using only the ships equipment really fascinated me.
I can’t thank all the instructors, Warsash and Solent uni enough for...

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.

Experiences from Australia: No two days are the same for a marine pilot in a busy port such as Esperance, but Mr MacAdie wouldn’t have it any other way.