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...

It has been exactly one year ago that a pilot from Sandy Hook (New York), Dennis Sherwood, died in the line of duty while attempting to board the container vessel Maersk Kensington.
What has happened since then? Has safety been improved for the pilots?

We have reached Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Could not have been a more enjoyable adventure. Thank you Suez Canal Authority for the two excellent pilots, specially Emad, and the support specially at Ismailia.
Editor's note:
Other countries, other habits: especially when it comes to safety standards. Life jackets, for example, are not to be seen here.

On duty 24/7, 365 days a year. The pilot service is always on hand when a ship is heading for or leaving the Port of Hamburg. Fleet Hamburg reliably brings the pilots on board the ships and that is a fast-paced task. New challenges await every day. Find out more in this episode of "PORT IS WHAT WE DO".
https://www.hamburg-port-authority.de/en/
https://www.instagram.com/hamburgerhafen/

Pilot boarding the Auto Carrier Mediterranean Highway inbound to Halifax Harbour.
Editors note:
"The pilot's greatest enemy is often the pilot himself: Please do not carry a backpack together with your life jacket! The backpack can massively hinder the deployment and the effect of the lifejacket!"
#pilotboarding #pilotboat #pilotboats #halifax #marinepilot #maritimepilot #nautical #boat #boats #sailors #novascotia #ocean #canada #ship #ships #halifaxharbour #pilots

Fathom Safety now offers an online course on Pilot Ladder Training

The Japanese-flagged container ship ONE Apus has lost 1,816 cargo carriers after it was caught up in a violent storm in the Pacific on November 30, 2020. The vessel arrived December 8 in the Japanese port of Kobe, where shipowners and managers said a full safety inspection would be carried out. The incident is described as the second biggest cargo loss in shipping history.

Take a ride!
On the "EDDAFJORD" it goes in time-lapse through the Great Sea Lock in Emden down the Ems. Video courtesy of the captain.