Safe Passage in The Singapore Strait - Eastbound

Container ship SHAHRAZ and bulk carrier SAMUDRA SAKTI I are reported to run aground in Singapore Strait south of St John Island at around 1900 UTC May 10, close to each other, while proceeding in the same direction, probably trying to avoid collision. As of 0700 UTC May 11, both ships remain in the same positions, coordinates don’t change. SHAHRAZ is en route from Port Klang to Yangshan China, SAMUDRA SAKTI I is en route from Belawan to Bayah, southwest Java.

On May 11, 2020, in the early morning hours, the news went around the world that two serious marine casualties occurred in sector 8 of Singapore Street within 6 minutes.

In Singapore, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots met the high standard certification criteria set by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and have been awarded with the Straits Pilot Certificate. Hence, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots are certified to provide Voluntary Pilotage Services in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Only PSA Marine can provide a seamless transit to/from the rendezvous point and any destinations in Singapore.
Since 2001, PSA Marine has been providing...

In the 62nd edition of Rumos Práticos the editors visited the Paranaguá and Antonina Pilotage Zone (Paraná-PR) to portray the challenges faced by the pilots in one of the largest port complexes in South America.

This study presents a novel decision support process for a pilot dispatching problem in the St. Lawrence River. It integrates a comprehensive set of time-based performance measures, including working time, waiting time, and skill level differences, to optimize fairness and operational efficiency in pilot dispatching.

Stanchions therefore are an often-overlooked part of a pilot transfer arrangement and therefore I
want to give them more attention in this article. They proved to be the cause of a whole series of accidents, some of which were even fatal.

Pilot transfer arrangement is a sensitive topic to be discussed among the pilot’s fraternity. Although ships are designed and operated with compliance to the SOLAS requirements in all respects including the pilot transfer arrangements, there has been numerous deficiencies observed related to pilot transfer arrangements. The small deficiencies from the part of ships cause life threatening accidents for pilots and sometimes to the ship staff themselves. There are many instances of defective ladder and complacency in proper rigging of ladders has been reported almost every day in different parts of the world. Many pilots lost their life, severely injured for life and face many minor to major accidents. The latest incident being the Capt. Timothy Murray of Sandy hooks Pilot.

In fact, the pivot point that we “see” is a trick of the eye, it looks like the ship is rotating about this point but in fact it is elsewhere, a point that you cannot see.

Ships have reported an increasing number of cases of significant GPS interference and jamming in recent months. The geographic areas with more than one reported incident include the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and multiple Chinese ports.

Port Everglades Pilot Carl Mahler boarding the Submarine USS New Hampshire SSN 778 in rough weather.