iTalk by Ms Reshma Nilofer, Sector Pilotage Services

OHB Digital Solutions GmbH develops systems for monitoring the GNSS frequency bands as well as detection, classification and localization of intentional or unintentional interference sources. Many stakeholders and applications as well as critical infrastructure providers are relying on GNSS to provide their services. Since Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are widely used in safety and value critical applications, GIDAS detects, classifies and localizes any GNSS interference...

This my attempt to do just that. This is a summary of all scientific papers and articles that I could find about the ship’s pivot point. I have added links to any videos associated with the publications and have also included any useful diagrams or equations that the authors published to help explain their research.

A new 1:25 cruise ship manned model, the "Voyager", was added to our fleet in 2014. She is 311 m long and is fitted with 2 azimuthing pods (and one Fixipod) and powerful bow thrusters. Training is conducted in emergency conditions like engine failures, crash stops, tight turns ...

Matthias Meyer was head of the Bremerhaven port pilots, nautical expert and lecturer at maritime schools. In front of our camera, he voices what has long been a topic of discussion in shipping circles: that the 400-meter container ships have simply become too big for the narrow shipping channels of the Weser and Elbe. In his view, a serious accident is only a matter of time. We take a look at how the district is dealing with these giants and what politicians, BUND and shipowners have to say...

In this movie the efficiency of two different pod operation strategies is compared: With azimuth propeller ships the Pods can be used in two ways to control the speed, e.g. for speed reduction: 1. by adjusting the engine orders, e.g. by reducing the RPMs to get lower speed - this means to drive the ship in the same conventional way as for twin screw vessels, 2. by turning both pods either in- or outward (TOE-IN or TOE-OUT) to reduce the forward thrust and therefore reducing the speed – the...

Raw footage of a an offshore Pilot transfer.
More pictures and an occasional video can be found at
https://instagram.com/sea_weathered?igshid=3qbu808ioyqf

On 6 November 2017, the fully laden, mini cape-size dry bulk carrier Orient Centaur was transiting the South Channel, Weipa, Queensland, outbound under the conduct of harbour pilots as part of a trial introduction of this size of ship to the port. While in the South Channel, the ship’s main engine shut down due to a loss of water from a cracked engine cooling component, and propulsion was lost. Shortly after, the ship grounded on the northern batter of the channel. The stern then slowly...

"Mizar" is a 165 LOA containership, which follows a liner route between the caribbean and the US.
It has a fixed pitch propeller and a bow thruster, which makes it easier to handle. This maneuver consisted of basically just pulling her off the dock and then doing a 160 turn.

Lately there has been a considerable increase in opinions of seagoing ship´s masters complaining about pilotage services, expressed whether as LinkedIn articles and comments or in some reputable industry magazines.