Ship Pilotage to Dunkirk Harbour BreakWater.

Spotted some Pilot Boats in the Port of Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne & Fremantle Australia (Port codes: Auckland:NZ AKL ; Melbourne:AU MEL ; Fremantle:AU FRE).

This important topic is still underestimated in shipping! Can you trust your GPS? Your Galileo? Knowing where the ship is and where to sail next is the main task of navigating a ship and is commonly supported by using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). But what happens if the GNSS gets intentionally disturbed?

Lately there has been a considerable increase in opinions of seagoing ship´s masters complaining about pilotage services, expressed whether as LinkedIn articles and comments or in some reputable industry magazines.

Awesome video from Denmark

Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure has supplied its advanced navigation and piloting solutions for pilotage applications to facilitate the safe and efficient berthing of vessels and to increase safety of larger vessels at Peel Ports Group.

The use of historical navigation data by ports is essential for safety investigations globally. In the digital age, a wealth of pilotage data is available, aiding operations and training but potentially causing stress if misused.

This lady came into port in an excellent day, however when I inspected the pilot ladder prior to board I saw that it was rigged using D-Shackles fastened between the side ropes, transferring all the weight and load of the ladder to the clamps and chokes. Truly an unsuitable method of securing the ladder. Retrieval line was also not above the first spreader
After pulling out the pilot boat, the ship was contacted by VHF and the captain was asked to instruct the crew in the usage of ropes and...