American Maritime Pilot: The Robert Smalls Story

Join me as we transit through the Panama Canal from the North-East side to the South-West. An interesting vlog on how an XDF LNG carrier transits through the newly expanded Panama Canal.Find out its history and which vessel and Captain transited the Canal on its opening day on the 15th of August 1914.The interaction with the Pilot Captain Arnulfo Cepetno who assist me on transit the Cocoli locks.

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

Very Special Video: Tug Boat Captain Eric gives us a bridge tour of his boat while navigating the river at night. "Every Man Has a Story"

This study presents a novel decision support process for a pilot dispatching problem in the St. Lawrence River. It integrates a comprehensive set of time-based performance measures, including working time, waiting time, and skill level differences, to optimize fairness and operational efficiency in pilot dispatching.

Footage of the "Pilot Station Vessel" POLARIS of the Dutch Pilot Organisation, made with a DJI Phantom Drone, controlled with a FPV (First Person View), and equipped with a GoPro Hero 3 camera.
The location is Maascenter, an important navigation point for ships entering the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Date: 15 may 2014. Music: Skrillex - Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites.

A Pilot Boat alongside a Cruise Ship

July 21st 2022, a thrilling day for me when I met up with the Foyle Pilots and was given a tour and a trip out on pilot vessel Foyle Leader 2. I was in the company of Coxswain Tommy McDaid and several other pilots, I was taken out past tall ship Grace O'Malley then we collected the pilot from a cement carrier called Cemluna, then back to Greencastle, it was a fantastic experience. Many thanks to Tommy and the crew for making this happen. www.nightskyhunter.com

This lady came into port in an excellent day, however when I inspected the pilot ladder prior to board I saw that it was rigged using D-Shackles fastened between the side ropes, transferring all the weight and load of the ladder to the clamps and chokes. Truly an unsuitable method of securing the ladder. Retrieval line was also not above the first spreader
After pulling out the pilot boat, the ship was contacted by VHF and the captain was asked to instruct the crew in the usage of ropes and...