Pilot boat Le Fret

Towage operator Svitzer recently took delivery of a new pilot boat from Western Australia-based boatbuilder Dongara Marine.

The entrapment problem of a pilot ladder has not yet been solved and has prompted Captain Francesco Aiello to seek a solution. His very simple idea (patented) has been internationally recognized as innovative.

Pilot launch Griffiths onboard and off Point Lonsdale, Victoria, Australia.
Ship spotting at Point Lonsdale and other water activities by Wally on Water.

Boat builder Metal Shark recently delivered a welded-aluminum 45 Defiant crew boat to Anchorage Launch Services, an Oregon-based operator providing launch, line, pilotage, and cargo services to vessels on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.

SWATH and SWASH are interesting technologies that allow a vessel to sail much more calmly in high waves. A stable and calm position of the ship is especially important for pilot boarding.

The average harbor pilot at the Port of Los Angeles makes $434,000 a year, but also faces a one in 20 chance of dying on the job, according to a book from The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims that was published in 2021.

A recent case reported by the International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) underscores how a seemingly minor oversight can lead to significant costs.

Manoeuvring large ships at close quarters and on shallow water is one of the most difficult aspects of shiphandling because of the complex hydraulic interactions depending on the ships' speeds, on the water depth and on lateral restrictions like in canals. Training is conducted both on meeting and on overtaking ships in shallow waters. This video shows how overtaking in a canal should be conducted: come in close to the stern and then move away from the bow that will be sucked towards your...

Video by marine pilot ESIL ABIBULA.

Spectacular (silent) film footage of the construction of the Panama Canal more than a century ago. The film shows the construction of the Miraflores and Gatun locks in detail as well as the digging of "The Culebra Cut" including steam trains, steam shovels and steam dredgers at work and scenes of the locks an the Canal in its first days op operation in 1914. Wikipedia: The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 miles) waterway in Panama that connects the...