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...

The next step for NZMPA is to issue a set of regulator-endorsed guidance notes. The first version will focus on accommodation ladders used in conjunction with pilot ladders.

It’s not always calm seas, helicopters and fast speedboats. In the third weekend storm this year, the pilot embarks MV VERA D by fast launch craft of the Pilot Station Vessel PROCYON. It takes professional teamwork by Pilotboat crew, the ship VERA D and VTS to board these ships in the harshest conditions in a violent Northsea. Well done and thanks to all players involved!

It is time to depart Miami on our 5 Day Florida & Bahamas cruise aboard Norwegian Sky - follow along as we pass South Beach and watch the pilot leave the ship and head back to Miami!

Editor's note: The pilot boarding seems a bit improvised and unsafe to me, but that's certainly business as usual, isn't it?

What a dangerous situation. Never seen that before.

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

Maybe the best pilot boat video of the year. What a great scenery!