Pilot Boarding with POLARIS in Steenbank pilot station, Netherlands

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.

Spotted some Pilot Boats in the Port of Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne & Fremantle Australia (Port codes: Auckland:NZ AKL ; Melbourne:AU MEL ; Fremantle:AU FRE).

The Halifax Pilot Boat recovering a Pilot from a cruise ship in some rough weather
#pilotboat #pilotboats #pilot #halifax #roughweather #boat #boats #halifaxharbour #halifaxnovascotia #novascotia #marinepilot #maritimepilot #nautical #bigwaves #roughseas #ship #ships

After passing Norfolk Virginia Naval Base, the Pilot boat Steven Mc. Allister brought the Harbor Pilot, the Pilot boat got alongside and the Harbor Pilot boarded safely and guided the vessel towards the berth/terminal.
#NorfolkHarborPilot #NorfolkPortsmouth #VirginiaMarinePilot

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...

In early December, just as I was starting to get into ship spotting, I saw a couple of vessels headed up river towards Philly. One of them, the Cielo di Iyo met with the harbor pilot right as I had my drone up. I was able to capture the Pilot coming to meet the vessel and CLIMBING the ladder to get on board just before she passed beneath the Walt Whitman Bridge.

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...

Baltic Workboats latest state of the art pilot boat recently delivered to the Laurentian Pilots in Canada.
More info on the vessel can be found here:
https://balticworkboatsus.com/vessel/pilot-1700-wp/