Entering the Port of Suape

Maritime pilots work in an irregular deployment system (rotation system) with unpredictable work assignments under high levels of physical and mental stress. Fatigue or chronic diseases, e.g. coronary heart disease, peptic ulcers or gastritis can occur as a consequence.

2 48° South 074° West
"Angostura Inglesa" is, without a doubt, the most important natural obstacle in navigating the South American channels, as it is a winding step that requires two changes of course close to 90 °, subject to a tidal regime and Considerable currents, which is also affected by the frequent bad times of the Gulf of Penas, forces sailors to face it with caution and take adequate security measures.

This video explores the question of why ships are so difficult to manoeuvre in reverse.

THE 15-metre-long ‘Port Láirge’, the Port of Waterford’s new Pilot Boat, was received by crew at the Dunmore East pontoon this (Friday) morning, two years after her commissioning.

A handy and simple tool to determine in a minimum time what is really needed as tug assistance, is the Bollard Pull Calculator which calculates in an approximate way the total required tug power for ships in various conditions of wind and current. This tool can be loaded as an app on the smart phone.

Vessels are being stranded at ports on the river due to the lack of pilots and the line-up of vessels forced to wait in the anchorage outside the estuary is increasing rapidly. Owners are unclear how long the problem will last

Here’s a nice video of the rough weather sea trials of San Ciprian’s new Interceptor 42 Pilot boat ‘San Ciprano’. With the Covid-19 travel restrictions in place and the Guys from San Ciprian unable to fly here at present we’re having to do a remote ‘on-line handover’. So we made this video to give them every confidence that she is performing well, as she handled comfortably the stormy conditions prevailing on the South Coast of Ireland last Friday nicely, with winds of 50kts at the entrance...

Around 11 am local time yesterday (21 February), a pilot fell into the sea while boarding the feeder vessel Blue Ocean, which is operated by Shanghai Jinjiang Shipping on a China-Taiwan service.

The pilot plays a crucial role in the safe navigation of the vessel to her destination. Expert in the local waters, a Pilot is imperative to the Bridge Team. Berthing/un-berthing, anchoring, transiting narrow channels etc. are very specialized operations and require expertise of a very objective manner that results in efficient planning, monitoring and execution of safe passage. When a ship needs to enter or leave a harbor, marine pilots are sent aboard via a small pilot boat to safely...