iTalk by Ms Reshma Nilofer, Sector Pilotage Services

The Varna Pilot Station in Bulgaria has chosen Seably, the global online marketplace for bespoke maritime learning, to become the first pilot station to use the digital platform for its training.

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.

A handy and simple tool to determine in a minimum time what is really needed as tug assistance, is the Bollard Pull Calculator which calculates in an approximate way the total required tug power for ships in various conditions of wind and current. This tool can be loaded as an app on the smart phone.

Before you, you see my third article on pilot boarding arrangements. After my two previous articles ‘1000 ways to secure a pilot ladder’ and ‘1000 ladders around’, I have received a lot of feedback and also questions to get deeper into the matter of combinations and embarkation platforms.

Another valuable explanatory video by Knud Benedict:
Zig-Zag-Test-Manoeuvre for Yaw Stability, IMO Manoeuvring Standards and Crash Stop

The debate is whether highly skilled pilots could have successfully overcome the recent Boeing 737 MAX computer deficiencies. Will this question eventually be relevant to harbor pilot skills?

Safehaven Marine have signed contracts with the Faroe Islands Rescue Service for an Interceptor 48
‘self-righting’ S.A.R. (Search and Rescue craft.) This is the second S.A.R. Interceptor 48 we have
supplied to the Faroe Islands following ‘Sverri’ in 2013, which has worked very well in the
challenging North Atlantic seas they face off the Islands, with her crew being totally confident with
her seakeeping abilities, performance and reliability during rescue operations over the last 7 years.

A 35-year-old male sea pilot of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) fell into the sea from a crude oil tanker near the N Shed Wharf in the port of Durban. A rope of the pilot ladder is said to have snapped for an undetermined reason when the man disembarked while leaving the crude oil tanker which was leaving the port of Durban.

Fremantle Ports proudly launched two new locally built pilot vessels that will facilitate efficient ship movements fundamental to the operations of the port.