Pilot Boarding at Sea near San Francisco

Boarding a vessel at sea can be dangerous. By following simple rules, it can be done safely. This safety video shows you how to leave the launch boat and climb the ladder when boarding vessels at sea safely as well as boarding preparations, safety precautions and boarding under special conditions. The 3 types of boarding arrangements for pilot are also explained. Watch with sound on. Transfers are normally safe when everyone takes all the precautions. If you think it is unsafe, remember to...

Pilot boarding the Auto Carrier Mediterranean Highway inbound to Halifax Harbour.
Editors note:
"The pilot's greatest enemy is often the pilot himself: Please do not carry a backpack together with your life jacket! The backpack can massively hinder the deployment and the effect of the lifejacket!"
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It has been shown that a majority (51%) of pilot ladders is secured by means of D-shackles, when secured at intermediate length. Previous research (Evans, 2020) has proven that this method has only about 50% of the strength of the pilot ladder when secured at full length (“double ended ladder”), or by means of the “endless-sling” method.

Wind was blowing strong from the NE and the waves were becoming bigger and bigger by the time we reach a new client.
Crew didn't consider the rolling effect about to happen while changing heading in order to give lee when they prepared pilot ladder, so the requested 1.5m above the water was not that good.
I decided to abort and to give the vessel the chance to shorten it. In the next attempt they did it right and I was able to board safe

Pilot boarding Spirit of Tasmania ship from Pilot Boat- Epic scene as in movies
#Spirit of Tasmania
#Bass strait channel

Delaware River Pilot Boat Cape Henlopen Transfers Pilot to Cargo Ship Al Wathba - Delaware River - Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania - June 6, 2025

In this video go behind the scenes with Capt. Reid of the Palm Beach Harbor Pilots Association on the nightshift, as he docks four different cargo ships of all different sizes that help support the islands of the supply chain of the Caribbean. The pilots are important to allowing the safe operation in and out of the Port of Palm Beach every day or night and to keep the goods for the islands arriving on time. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to SUBSCRIBE for more videos about Ships! ⚓...

The IMPA safety campaign will be running from 1st to 15th October 2021.