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.

During the transit time on the pilot launch between the shore and the vessel, marine pilots will spend at least a portion of that time carrying out (either consciously or subconsciously) a risk assessment of the forthcoming operation.

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.

This article describes the findings from two studies that utilised an integrated systems thinking framework to understand how pilots make decisions and what factors are perceived to influence their decisions.

RINA ACT Technical Meeting
23 November 2021
Port Ash Australia: Ship Handling Training & Research Centre
By A. Beazley, Port Ash, Australia

These images show a Navigation drill (SIMULATION) of approach and mooring to one of the Harbours of the Paraná River - "TIMBUES" Harbour (Management and Resources of the Navigation Bridge for Pilots) - (BRM - P) in charge of the Paraná Harbours Pilot, Captain Mr. Diego SCHOTTENHEIM. Exercise carried out in the Navigation Bridge Simulator of the Maritime and Riverine Research and Training Canter (MRRTC), Autonomous City of Buenos Aires #Argentine on March 12, 2019, since 14:50 till 15:55...

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...

The Nautical Institute (NI) and the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) have been concerned for many years at the needlessly high rate of Pilot Ladder casualties. The NI is continuously reminded of the problem from its Members and through its Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS). The issue features frequently in our publications, and we recently dedicated an edition of our award winning magazine The Navigator to the topic, emphasising the importance of good...

A in-depth video explaining how DUKC® works.

The mouth of the Duluth Canal is a dangerous entrance in bad weather. Here the coast guard shows the agility of their boats. What a ride!