Tanker went out of control after engine failure and collided with general cargo ship in Kiel Canal near Kiel locks, at around 0120 LT Jul 27.

This Pilot Advisory Note (PAN) advises AMSA-licensed coastal pilots and pilotage providers about the existence of counterfeit pilot ladders and associated certification.

Finnpilot’s present six pilotage areas will be merged to form four pilotage areas. New District Managers have been appointed to head the pilotage areas. At the same time, an Operational Executive Committee will be established for Finnpilot. The organisational change, which was planned in close co-operation with the personnel, will take effect on 1 October 2020.

According to WSA Kiel-Holtenau: The northern chamber of the Great Lock has been put back into operation. Both chambers are available to the shipping industry.

Pilot-Guard is a global pilot safety network that enables the real-time exchange of safety-related information between organisations around the globe on non-compliant pilot transfer arrangements (nc-pta) of vessels.

Since 2019, the German Federal Pilotage Chamber (Bundeslotsenkammer, BLK), in cooperation with Hamburg Port Services GmbH (HPS), has been offering a three-day safety training course specifically designed for maritime pilots and pilot boat crews at a training center in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Technology group Wärtsilä will supply its latest simulator technology for a new maritime training centre in Finland.

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Here’s a nice little video of rough weather sea trials that coincided with ‘Storm Agnes’ last week in the Interceptor 48 pilot boat ‘Svitzer Oued Laou’. The storm produced some pretty big waves at the entrance to Cork Harbour, and strong winds during the height of the storm. We managed to capture some cool footage from Roches PT lighthouse. It was fairly rough, although by not coinciding with the ebbing tide conditions aboard were quite comfortable, and our Pilot 48 handled it effortlessly...