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...

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.

It has been shown that a majority (51%) of pilot ladders is secured by means of D-shackles, when secured at intermediate length. Previous research (Evans, 2020) has proven that this method has only about 50% of the strength of the pilot ladder when secured at full length (“double ended ladder”), or by means of the “endless-sling” method.

Bulk Carrier Ship "TOP MARINE"/ #RioDeLaPlataPilot/ Disembarking Maneuver/ On board #PiloVessel "COMETA" #ZonaComún #LaPlataRoads #RioDeLaPlata - 25th. July 2024 - 10:47 hs. (Local Time).- This video (original sound) was filmed on board Pilot Vessel "COMETA" and shows the Rio de la Plata Pilot, when he disembarked from the Bulk Carrier Ship "TOP MARINE". This maneuver occurred in #ZonaComún #RioDeLaPlata.- #ZonaComún #BoardingStation #RioDeLaPlata.- Date: 25th. July 2024. Time: 10:46...

HURON SPIRIT - PILOT BOAT TRANSFER - FEDERAL YUKON - Upbound On The St. Clair River Heading Into Lake Huron After Passing Under The International Blue Water Bridges At Port Huron, Michigan.
HURON SPIRIT - PILOT BOAT TRANSFER - FEDERAL YUKON - Port Huron, Michigan 9-23-2020

A pilot ladder is a highly specialized form of rope ladder, typically used on board cargo vessels for the purposes of embarking and disembarking pilots.

Latest video from Tub Boat Willy.

Delta Launch Services, the operating company for the Associated Branch pilots on the SW Pass of the Mississippi, has taken delivery of a new pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. This is the sixth St. John’s Class launch built for the Delta pilots by the Somerset, Mass. shipyard.