Retired Houston channelpilot Lou Vest: "My Maritime Story"

Watch and learn how a pilot boards a container ship before entering port.
In this video, a container ship bound for Houston, Texas is boarded by a Houston Pilot before entering the Houston Ship Channel.
#maritime #HoustonPilots #houstonshipchannel

What exactly is a ship channel pilot? 30-year pilot Lou Vest tells us the ins and outs of what a ship channel pilot does, why they're important, and how to become one (if you're lucky!).
https://houstonmaritime.org

Time lapse video showing Houston Pilotage with Oil/Chemical Tanker Ship: Kastav - Oil / Chemical Tanker Area: Houston Camera: Go Pro Hero 3 BE Copyright: The Sea Lad *To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please contact Us* You can find Us on: FB: https://www.facebook.com/thesealad YouTube: https://goo.gl/PcwM6k Google+:https://goo.gl/kHOOO9 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thesealad Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSeaLad1 Seafarers Jobs: http://jobatseas.blogspot....

A look into the future of the ship's bridge with new technologies.

On April 20, 2026, the Columbia River Bar Pilots conducted a MOB drill with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Astoria.

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.

This publication (2024) details the rules, regulations and procedures that should be followed when preparing for pilot embarkation and disembarkation. It includes relevant excerpts from SOLAS regulations and IMO resolutions.

The Bollard Pull value, which can be interpreted as the maximum thrust that is developed for a specific amount of time by the propulsion systems of any vessel to the fullest , when it has zero speed in the forward direction, is the criterion that allows us to understand how suitable a tugboat is for a port maneuver or a towing operation.

Congratulations: Vicky Hérault becomes the first female maritime pilot in the port of Brest (France) in Oct 2021.

The “DangerousLadder” page on facebook is nowadays a very well known community in the maritime world. It is steadily growing towards 3000 members, which will be the next milestone membership-wise.