Le Havre Pilot disembarks from Brittany Ferries Ferry Etretat to Portsmouth England UK 15.7.19

It’s not always calm seas, helicopters and fast speedboats. In the third weekend storm this year, the pilot embarks MV VERA D by fast launch craft of the Pilot Station Vessel PROCYON. It takes professional teamwork by Pilotboat crew, the ship VERA D and VTS to board these ships in the harshest conditions in a violent Northsea. Well done and thanks to all players involved!

Maritime pilots board ships when waters are crowded or treacherous or when a passage is narrow to guide the captain and ship safely through the waters. The Cat operates between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Video by Fathom Safety: "When a pilot ladder reaches its 30 month anniversary it needs a retest certificate. It must be returned to the manufacturer or an approved testing station to be weight tested and inspected."

Meanwhile, female pilots are more and more common.

Speaker: Capt David (Duke) Snider FNI, Martech Polar Consulting Ltd and NI Past President
Drawing on local expertise and a wealth of practical experience, the British Columbia Branch discusses the many and varied challenges of pilotage in a changing Arctic.

The Cosco Shipping Galaxy alongside Felixstowe Berth 9 cargo operations come to an end with the cranes beginning to boom up. Mooring gang in attendance and the tugs begin to go to station. The pilot requests for both to make fast on the centre lead fore and aft. Svitzer Kent makes fast centre lead aft while the Svitzer Sky makes fast centre lead forward. The Sky comes under the bow to pick up the heaving line but the crew slackens the head lines before the last crane had boomed up. Sky...

A pilot of Sandy Hook, Dennis Sherwood fell off a ladder while boarding a ship today at 4:30 a.m. and died of his serious injury in Staten Island hospital.

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.

Panama Canal Transit by a Liquified Natural Gas ( LNG Carrier )
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade.