Pilot disembarkation

This important topic is still underestimated in shipping! Can you trust your GPS? Your Galileo? Knowing where the ship is and where to sail next is the main task of navigating a ship and is commonly supported by using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). But what happens if the GNSS gets intentionally disturbed?

Arjen is a pilot in the Amsterdam-IJmond region. A registered pilot is an advisor to a ship. In good or bad weather, a pilot's work always goes on. Interaction between people is an important part of being a pilot.

Editors note: A film of a pilot boat has just been published on YouTube with the title "How Dangerous being in a Pilot Boat..." on YouTube. I'm not sure if this really shows a dangerous maneuver, maybe the experts can comment on it here.
But in principle it is problematic to approach the ship in such a small Pilot Boat in the wake from astern and cross the waves there. I remember an accident from Finland in December 2017 where the boat capsized and people died. Is this situation shown here...

Like many seafarers I have long been a keen follower of The Nautical Institute’s MARS programme, and along with many other members I listened to the recent webinar on that topic. One theme which was repeated more than once was that it is better to learn from someone else’s misfortune rather than have it happen to you. Having personally been involved in two near misses resulting from unsafe pilot transfer arrangements in a relatively short space of time, I asked how experiences and knowledge specifically about pilot ladder safety could best be promulgated to avoid repeating common accidents or near misses.

The importance of the pilot ladder, by Bill Evans, Inspector of Marine Accidents.

Take a narrated journey with me on a large crude oil tanker ship. Starting from sea to taking pilot, entering the Port Aransas Jetties, to ending all fast and moored at dock near Corpus Christi Texas. In the video I film the Pilot Boarding the vessel while underway. Link To New Ships YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPACsIutgWlmrhrJ6JCmCIg For inquiries info@thirdcoastdrone.com Web https://www.thirdcoastdrone.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Third-...

Two decades ago, candidates were selected for TNPA's accelerated training programme in Rotterdam, which aimed to train a new generation of ship pilots, managers and other maritime professionals.

Interesting video by "JeffHK" from Hong Kong about the job of a maritime pilot.

This article was first published back in February 2022: According to the International Group of P & I Clubs’ “Report on P&I claims involving vessels under pilotage 1999-2019”, over the last twenty years, there were 1,046 incidents in which pilot error either caused or contributed to those events.