When a vessel navigates in confined waters, such as in a harbour or narrow channel, it is well known among experienced pilots that the ship handling is greatly affected by the hydrodynamic forces and moments acting between ship and bank or sidewall of the channel.
Tug power has increased considerably over recent decades. Today, some ship handling tugs have a bollard pull of more than 100 tons. In addition, high tug power can be installed in ever smaller compact hulls.
Improvements to pilots’ situation awareness (SA) in maritime navigation are critical to reducing human errors, which have caused 75% to 96% of marine accidents over the last few years.
According to "Buchan Observer": Peterhead Port Authority has introduced remote pilotage for selected vessels entering the harbour as part of a package of measures designed to reduce the risk of staff and users contracting the Covid-19 virus.