Good old times: PLA Thames Pilots at Work

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 - Report on a River - The River Thames - 1963, UK
This video is in the Look at Life series - Volume One - Transport and shows the River Thames from its source to the sea. In the hey-day of British Shipping and what has been done and looking to the future to modernize the port services to keep the traffic moving.

This documentary made in 1959 in the popular Look at Life series is from Volume 5 - Cultural History and takes a journey along the River Thames passing several famous buildings and monuments such as - County Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Shell Mex House which has the biggest clock face in London. Cleopatra's Needle, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Port of London Authority, Prospect of London Pub, Port of London Docks.

It does not happen very often that we have a Eurochannel bound ship to sea. In this case the MARIA P LEMOS, 333 m with a draft of 20,7 m left Rotterdam underway to the Far East .

This is a short documentary done in the 1980s of San Diego Harbor Pilots. It shows the old pilot boat built in 1914. The boat was donated to the Maritime Museum and provides daily bay rides for the public. The film shows arrival of the cruise ship SS Azure Seas.

The world watched as the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal played out. In a 2-part Quadcast Shipping Special, the "Quadcast" reviews the consequences and legal implications of a major maritime incident of this type.

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”

Loodswezen Instructie Embarkeren Debarkeren.
Unfortunately only in Dutch without subtitles.

Everton Schmidt assumed the position with the commitment to maintain the activities during the new coronavirus pandemic.

Article originally published in SWZ|Maritime September 2022

Through the years, the Dutch Pilots have developed a system of selection, initial education and continual professional training. What is the current state of affairs?