What happens during a snapback event?

Jacobsen Pilot Service and Los Angeles Pilot Station published a notice to all ships to inspect pilot ladders before the pilot boards.

Reason is an incident happened at the port of long beach in July 2020. Pilot ladder rope broke while the pilot was on the ladder - luckily the pilot was able to hold on.

The video was found on some social media channels in June 2020. When so many elementary mistakes are made and so many risks are taken, this is exactly what can happen! It's a demonstrative example of an unprofessional action: 1) Where is the life jacket? 2) No backpack on the shoulders. Use a rope to have the backpack lifted by the deck crew. 3) Where is the rest of the crew (on vessel / on the small boat) for safe assistance? What other mistakes have you discovered? We do not put videos...

Video: Climbing the pilot ladder, the pilot is hit by Pilot Boat.

A bulk carrier was departing port with a pilot on the bridge to assist with the undocking and manoeuvre downriver. The operation was also assisted by two conventionally propelled tugs, one forward and one aft.

To monitor the vessel’s progress, the pilot had set up his portable pilotage unit (PPU). He had connected the rate-of-turn generator to the vessel’s pilot plug and had set a variable range marker on the radar with a radius of 0.5 nm.

Dyena Systems announces the release of SeaTRAX to their range of vessel monitoring solutions.

Purposely designed to meet the requirements of Pilot vessels, SeaTRAX assists the vessel operator in the transit and transfer phase, allowing the skipper to monitor all motion parameters and make an objective assessment of the conditions.

Advanced automation has been highlighted as contributory to several accidents involving modern bridge support systems and automation aiding maritime pilots for maneuvering and navigation. This paper argues for reskilling for automation collaboration.

Cateamaran boat approaches for pilot boarding

Case Study: An investigation into whether Port of Melbourne and major port user, ExxonMobil, could bring deeper drafted vessels into the channel.

Pilot going onboard, using pilot ladder port side, 1,5 meters above the water.