Geneviève Béchard | The Digital Transformation of Canadian Hydrographic Offices

Here is the latest version of the professional handbuch of "pilot Ladder Safety" for the rigging and the use of pilot ladders by Herman Broers from July 2021.

Report by nC2 Engineering Consultancy at the University of Southampton on behalf of the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) to investigate the effectiveness and impact of different methods of securing pilot ladders in medium lengths in a laboratory-based project.

The European Tugowners Association in collaboration with the European Maritime Pilots Association has produced this informative video on efficient and safe towage operations. These guidelines address the main factors affecting the safety of harbour towage operations such as good communications between pilots, ship captains and tugmasters.

The role of a Tug Master undertaking harbour towage activities is a very specific one. He/she has to, alone or in cooperation with other Tug Masters, assist a ship in a safe and efficient way using his/her tug to the best of its qualities. 

It is not often that this blog is used to show bad practice, however in this case some pictures tell a whole story. Ship is compliant by design for rigging a combination. How about the operator(s)?

Long and irregular shifts, unforeseeable operations and high responsibility are still prominent in the job of a pilot and pose high psycho-physical demands.

A ride along with a harbor pilot as he guided a cargo ship from Galveston Bay through the Houston Ship Channel into a port on Buffalo Bayou.

For the second time in less than twelve months, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has announced the successful legal action against a ship's master and the shipping company due to a defective ladder, leading to a pilot's injury during transfer

Future pilotage services in Greenland will become integrated directly into DanPilot in order to adapt to the current, challenging market conditions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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.