Article A journey back in time: films of pilotage from 1940 to 1975 (USA, UK and Germany)
by Frank Diegel - published on 18 May 2020
Video Look at Life - Pilot Aboard 1963
published on 17 December 2019
Video The Maryland Pilots between 1950-1965 (a journey through time)
published on 26 March 2020
The Maryland Pilots have guided ships to and from Baltimore since the 1700's. They have been chartered as an organization since 1852. This is an edited except from films about the Pilots shot between 1950-1965 for the Port that Built a City and State. The original films are in the archives of the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Video From a seaman. Gabon, Baie du Prince, 2012.
published on 30 June 2021
Video Berthing Hamburg port - Pilots' masterpiece
published on 6 May 2020
Video How Harbor Pilots Dock Massive Cargo Ships (Full Process)
published on 6 May 2024
In this video we follow along with Capt. Dane of the Palm Beach Harbor Pilots Association on a windy Saturday morning as he brings in a massive bulk carrier cargo ship into the Port of Palm Beach. This vessel which has a draft of 27 ft, and a beam of 99 ft is the maximum allowable size vessel allowed to transit into the port due to the shoaling going on that forces all vessel to have a maximum operating draft of 29 ft. No room for error. Also featured in this video is a regular cargo vessel...
Video How to Launch a Pilot Boat–Behind the Scenes at Point Hope Shipyard
published on 20 June 2025
Welcome to Point Hope Shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In this video, I follow the float off of the Pacific Navigator, a hardworking pilot boat that serves the Port of Victoria and Ogden Point. We watch as the vessel is pulled along the marine railway, rotated on the turntable, and positioned onto the cradle. Once secured, the cradle lowers to float-off depth, and the Pacific Navigator fires up her engines for a short harbour spin before returning to duty. Some segments,...
Opinion What you can´t see still hurt you
published on 13 December 2020
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 Wind Impact on Ships Turning Motion
published on 20 January 2021
This video complements the earlier demonstration of wind effect on straight track and shows now wind effect on turning circles. It can be seen that during a turn under strong wind the ship reduces turning when it comes close to equilibrium on straight track - if the Wind-to-ship speed ratio is big enough then the ship even goes straight instead of turning. This is shown for three samples for Head, Stern wind and Beam wind. The turning can be increased if the ratio of Wind speed-to-ship...