Pilot Boat PERSEUS, Rotterdam. SWATH technology by Abeking & Rasmussen

Pilot tender GRODEN on 16.12.2020 on the river Weser at Brake Unterweser to Cuxhaven - 4K VIDEO

At the A&R shipyard in Germany, the successful principle of SWATH boats was further developed in 2013: The SWASH principle allows sea-going, smaller and more economical boats.

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.

CMA CGM Columbia container ship arriving from Shekou port, and transiting thru Hong Kong, destination Singapore
a rare capture of TWO harbour pilots boats to carry two pilots leaving off the container ship
Columbia is only a 300m long 48m wide vessel, only 9200 TEU capacity but it has separate bridge tower and chimney. The ship was built in 2015.

Pilot boats are an essential part of our maritime world where they provide safe passage for ships to and from the harbor. The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) has 23 pilot stations in Sweden.

Sullom Voe Pilot boat out on a task

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation, has taken an order from the St. Johns Bar Pilots for a high-speed launch, based on the successful 40’ Resilient Class pilot boat introduced in 2005. Delivery to the Florida-based pilots is scheduled for mid-2024.

Baltic Workboats AS in Estonia was awarded the contract to build the approximately 18 metre long vessel, which will be named "Hamburg Pilot 1", following a Europe-wide tender.

The smart fairway digitalization pilot is a part of the EMMA Extension project that is funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. This summer, 34 smart buoys were installed in the Saimaa deep fairway, which is Finland’s most important inland waterway for merchant shipping.
Safety is enhanced in particular by the fact that the pilots and VTS can adjust the light output of beacons and the rhythm of lights to support the navigation of vessels in poor visibility and weather conditions....

For the first time, a large vessel is to cross an ocean autonomously. The giant, developed by Hyundai, could usher in a new era of seafaringt: 300 metres long, 50 metres wide, with space for 180,000 cubic metres of liquid gas.