Captain Matt Glass - Houston Pilot (2012)

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).

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...

After spending years at sea, Brett Monthie had to chart the channels in Tampa Bay from memory in order to become a Tampa Bay harbor pilot. And then he spent 30 months in training.

Chesapeake Bay pilots guide massive cargo ships safely through the Bay's channels every day, but boarding them on a ladder attached to a moving ship is nothing short of breathtaking. Watch the video from a retired Bay Pilot.

A video of a fellow captain at my work giving me my very first ride in the companies jet pilot boat. Im impressed.

Interesting video by "JeffHK" from Hong Kong about the job of a maritime pilot.

It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.

Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.