History: Lightship (1950)

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

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.

This what a normal work day looks like for a port pilot.
A 24 hour shift shown in 11 minutes.
Recorded in Santa Marta, Colombia.

The American Maritime Pilot has a special and important job bringing ships into port safely. In the history of pilots Robert Smalls stands out as one of the most heroic and able pilots in American History.
Watch the full video below:

Image film

It takes all sorts of roles to ensure safe and successful operations at Aberdeen Harbour. Meet Finn, a Marine Pilot, and find out why he enjoys working at the port.

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.

USA-based shipbuilder Metal Shark and Sea Machines, a Boston-based leading developer of autonomous marine technology, have partnered on the introduction of a new 29-foot autonomous vessel now being offered through Metal Shark’s “Sharktech” autonomous division. Full story here: http://bit.ly/seamachines

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...