Safe boarding of vessels

Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) and other individual MOB devices have been available for some years now and have evolved to incorporate a variety of different alerting methods and combinations. However, usage of these additional enhancements within UK Pilotage is still in its infancy.

SeaSafe - Marine pilot falling off a ships ladder with his integrated life jacket coat

"Rope Ladders" by PTR Holland

Correct method of rigging pilot ladder explained.
As explained, a large number of reports related to the use of pilot ladders which are too long relative to the vessel’s draughts. As a result, the excessively long ladders require shortening up before being deployed for boarding pilots. In these cases, ship crew shortens the pilot ladders, using D-shackles to choke the side ropes at the required height along the ladder’s length. In this method, the D-shackle is first secured to a hard point...

Wind was blowing strong from the NE and the waves were becoming bigger and bigger by the time we reach a new client.
Crew didn't consider the rolling effect about to happen while changing heading in order to give lee when they prepared pilot ladder, so the requested 1.5m above the water was not that good.
I decided to abort and to give the vessel the chance to shorten it. In the next attempt they did it right and I was able to board safe

This video briefly describes the special operation of transfer of marine pilots at sea.

A good working relationship with the pilot, effective Master Pilot Information Exchange at the start of the pilotage followed by well performing Bridge Resource Management during the pilotage passage, are important factors in a successful pilotage.

Perseus pilot boat catamaran, Port of Rotterdam IMO number 9367114 MMSI 246390000 Name of the ship PERSEUS Former names PKLL2 EAZ (2017, Netherlands) PERSEUS (2013, Netherlands) PEQ (2013, Netherlands) ZAGD A (2012, Netherlands) Vessel type Pilot boat Operating status Active Flag Netherlands Gross tonnage 228 tons Deadweight 14 tons Length 25 m Breadth 13 m Year of build 2006 Builder ABEKING & RASMUSSEN - LEMWERDER, GERMANY Classification society GERMANISCHER LLOYD Description PERSEUS is a...

HOW WE DRIVE- Different methods of steering, navigating and maneuvering the Celebrity Edge, a 130,818 gross ton, 306 meter, $1.2 billion dollar new luxury liner. When we’re underway and I walk around the ship and guest's see the Captain, the question I get asked ALL. THE. TIME is “If you’re here, who is driving the ship”. The answer is the Officer of the Watch. We have a minimum of 3 very qualified and licensed officers manning the bridge at ALL times. 3 separate teams rotate every 4...