Pilot leaving in rough sea

Article and pictures by Captain W J M Hargreaves, Retired Southampton Pilot

IMPA has just released the results of the annual IMPA safety campaign, please have a look at the document.

Earlier this year ABP announced an investment of around £9 million to build nine new pilot boats. These vessels were ordered from Goodchild Marine Services Limited and are being built in Norfolk along with much of the supply chain coming from East Anglian suppliers.

Ahmed is an ideas man. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he came up with a way to protect pilots from infection by driving incoming ships remotely, allowing his team to virtually board foreign ships rather than encounter new people in person, which would have put his colleagues at risk.

At Humber Maritime College we have state-of-the-art marine simulators to teach our Merchant Navy cadets in an environment close to reality, preparing them for a career at sea.

Towage operator Svitzer recently took delivery of a new pilot boat from Western Australia-based boatbuilder Dongara Marine.

Container ship MADRID TRADER ran aground in fairway while entering Mar del Plata Port, Argentina, at around 1830 UTC Jan 20, with pilot on board.

Coast Guard air and surface rescue crews at Sector San Juan responded and assisted the distressed M/V Island Express Wednesday afternoon, after the ship started taking on water when it departed the Port of San Juan for storm avoidance in anticipation of Tropical Cyclone 9.

Video by marine pilot ESIL ABIBULA.