Harbour Pilot boarding on ship with Pilot ladder

KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

Vessel name: Polaris ; Year built: 2012 ; Flag: Netherlands ; Homeport: Rotterdam Length: 81.2m X 13.3m ; GRT: 2501 ; Callsign: PBZN ; MMSI:245142000 ; IMO: 9496915 Type: Special Vessel / Pilot Ship A "Pilot Ship / Pilot Vessel" is a "special type" of ship in which it accommodates a certain and limited Marine Pilots (Sea, River, Harbor Pilots), it also carries small boats/crafts that are used to tender services to and from the Pilot ship. In a Pilot Vessel, the Pilots can take their time...

by BAIRD MARITIME: France's JFA Yachts recently handed over a new self-righting boat to the Le Havre Pilot Station.

A pilot boat caught fire near the entrance of the Port of Recife, on Saturday morning (15 January). The fire would have started around 11h. In a note, the port authority explained that the two people who were in the pilot boat were rescued by another pilot boat "Serrambi".
The causes of the accident had not yet been identified, but would be investigated.

The Savannah Pilots Association of Georgia received a brand-new aluminium pilot boat from Snow and Company, a Washington-based boat-builder.

Stainsby is a 16m GRP Pilot Boat designed by Camarc and built by Holyhead Marine.

SF Pilot leaving the TSGB on Cruise 2021 - Enroute to Hawaii.

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”

The 160 pilots allotted to the PZ are distributed in eight pilot companies responsible for attending ships that seek the ports or terminals of Santana (AP), Munguba (PA), Santarém (PA), Trombetas (PA), Juruti (PA) and Itacoatiara (AM), as they sail upriver (against the current).