History: Pilot Ahoy! (1940). A pathetone special

Let us start a journey back in time. Back to the black and white films of history. The times have changed, but it is good to know what kind of things have changed and where are the roots of pilotage.

Look at Life Vol 01 Transport Pilot Aboard 1963
The story of Britain's pilotage services.

The Maryland Pilots have guided ships to and from Baltimore since the 1700's. They have been chartered as an organization since 1852. This is an edited except from films about the Pilots shot between 1950-1965 for the Port that Built a City and State. The original films are in the archives of the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

She just finished school in Norway, and “a 19 year old rebel,” admits Captain Breivik about her younger self. She didn’t know what to do next, but Solgunn Hamme Breivik certainly never expected to make history.

Awesome video by Herman Broers, "The Rotterdam Pilot".

Without a shadow of doubt, shipping is a key enabler of our current way of life and the globalized world we live in today. The irony is that the average person is unaware of the significance or contribution of the shipping industry and how much we rely on ships working without disruption

I have had the privilege of being at quite a number of meetings, conferences and seminars, sometimes representing The Netherlands, but mostly representing the Netherlands pilots. I have had many discussions about the role of pilots and pilot organisations, which lead me to write an article “What is the added value of pilotage?”, published in the February 2020 issue of Seaways.

#pilotonboard #pilotboat #seamanslife

This is a video of the cruise ship pilot boat that picks up the pilot once he has navigated the ship out of the port. This is a requirement of all cruise ships coming into and leaving out of ports. We also noticed them at the Bahamas. I was able to capture this one on my last cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral... watch as the pilot jumps from the cruise ship to the pilot boat while both are moving! :)