Pilot Boat

Earlier this year ABP announced an investment of around £9 million to build nine new pilot boats. These vessels were ordered from Goodchild Marine Services Limited and are being built in Norfolk along with much of the supply chain coming from East Anglian suppliers.

USA-based shipbuilder Metal Shark and Sea Machines, a Boston-based leading developer of autonomous marine technology, have partnered on the introduction of a new 29-foot autonomous vessel now being offered through Metal Shark’s “Sharktech” autonomous division. Full story here: http://bit.ly/seamachines

The Port of Townsville has welcomed the newest addition to its fleet of pilot boats with the arrival of the newly built Mantaray. The $3.3 million, custom-built vessel utilises high-tech equipment and design to maximise safety and efficiency for pilot transfers.

CMA CGM Columbia container ship arriving from Shekou port, and transiting thru Hong Kong, destination Singapore
a rare capture of TWO harbour pilots boats to carry two pilots leaving off the container ship
Columbia is only a 300m long 48m wide vessel, only 9200 TEU capacity but it has separate bridge tower and chimney. The ship was built in 2015.

A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.

The Navigator - Issue 29 is now available to read for free.
This issue looks at Pilot safety and can be downloaded or read online.

Taken from aboard the MS Westcott Pilot Boat this is the Algoma Harvester receiving mail on the Detroit River as they head downbound in the early evening hours of September 2nd, 2022
I had just been in Cleveland OH for the christening of the Mark W Barker the newest ship for the Interlake Steamship Company and left there on the 2nd to go to Toledo and see the National Museum of the Great Lakes and then I continued on to Detroit where I made this stop at the JW Westcott Company and met up...

Qualified pilots are usually employed by the local port or maritime administration, and provide their services to ships for a fee, calculated in relation to the ship’s tonnage, draught or other criteria.