Accommodation Ladder Load Testing

Watch and learn how a pilot boards a container ship before entering port.
In this video, a container ship bound for Houston, Texas is boarded by a Houston Pilot before entering the Houston Ship Channel.
#maritime #HoustonPilots #houstonshipchannel

Over the course of 4 days this August, I was afforded the opportunity and privilege of riding with the Savannah Bar Pilots for an article I was writing for a major maritime magazine. The pilots are given the responsibility of boarding a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean and safely navigating the vessel up the Tybee Road 9 (a name for the shipping lane that leads into the Savannah River), into the Savannah River, and into the Port of Savannah. The same is done in reverse when a ship is outbound...

Irish boatbuilder Safehaven Marine recently handed over a new pilot boat to the Port of Ferrol in northwestern Spain. Named Punta Do Cruceiro, the vessel was designed for operation even under challenging conditions in the waters in that region of the Atlantic.

SWATH build by Abeking & Rasmussen (Germany)

Dangerours work as pilot tries to transfer from pilot boat to Cagliarie to Civitavecchia, Italy in May 2023 in moderately rought seas.

A beautiful day, climbing up the (not-so-well-rigged) pilot ladder and then the stairs of the accommodation towards the bridge.

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.