Ship manoeuvring in port MT Eagle Asia 09

Today I will discuss a very simple and useful practical trick often used by pilots.

When we have to berth a vessel with small clearances forward and aft (say 20 to 25 mtr fwd and aft) it is very essential that you are able to estimate your position. Now most of the time you have a berthing supervisor on jetty who will help you with position.

This article was originally published on Baird Maritime (link below)
When a pilot is berthing a ship with the aid of tugs, it sometimes happens that the ship lands heavily and suffers minor damage. More commonly in my experience, it also happens that the crew discover a large dent for which they cannot account ...

Video was sent to Marine-Pilots.com by Mohamed Anwar Remichi

Maritime piloting operations involve on-call work schedules that may lead to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. The study documented pilot work scheduling practices.

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

The last month Jan Tiedemann from Alphaliner (BRS) in Hamburg has reported, that DNV GL has awarded Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (group) Co., Ltd. an approval in principle for the design of an LNG-powered 25,000 TEU container vessel. Based upon the reported vessel dimensions, he reckons that the ship could actually have a capacity closer to 26,000 TEU.

Look at Life - Icebreakers - Keeping Shipping Routes Open from 1966
Another of the Look at Life Documentaries - Volume One - Transport - Breaking the Ice - from March 1966 - Taking a look at the Icebreakers responsible for keeping shipping routes open.

In Novorossiysk (Russia, Black Sea), a marine pilot died during a pilot transfer and an investigation has been launched. The incident occurred on the evening of 14 March at about 21:40.

A video of a fellow captain at my work giving me my very first ride in the companies jet pilot boat. Im impressed.

Found on YouTube:

Tom Mellor - C​hairman of the IHO Electronic Navigational Chart Working Group (ENC WG) and Head of Digital Standards at the UKHO - explains what the IHO's ECDIS and ENC Standards mean.