Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

Step back in time to the height of Britain's maritime influence with this look at the unsung heroes of the shipping industry: the sea pilots. In the 1960s, as global trade patterns shifted and shipping technology began its rapid evolution, British sea pilots remained the vital, trusted guides navigating the world’s most complex waterways. From the treacherous currents of the River Mersey to the bustling ports of the coast, these men held the legal conduct of massive vessels in their hands,...

This video is another Look at Life Documentary from Volume 1 - Transport - and features the Weather Adviser - a UK Weather ship from April 1965. In all conditions, special ships maintain a constant scientific watch on the weather.

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.

The Nautical Institute (NI) and the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) have been concerned for many years at the needlessly high rate of Pilot Ladder casualties. The NI is continuously reminded of the problem from its Members and through its Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS). The issue features frequently in our publications, and we recently dedicated an edition of our award winning magazine The Navigator to the topic, emphasising the importance of good...

Kiel Pilots introducing Morild Interaktiv AS Virtual Reality Simulator for next-level manoeuvring training

Maneuvering ships are complex operations with high-risk involved. Just like nautical projects, they need to be simulated on training centers before approved. In a scenario of growing ships and limited waterways, state-of-the-art technology is essential to safely increase ports efficiency. That is why Brazilian Pilotage brought the most modern bridge simulator next to the maritime regulatory entities. Located a few minutes from government agencies, in the brazilian capital, our training...

I’ve wanted to visit the Warsash Maritime School ship-handling centre since before I ever set foot on a ship. It’s visited by pilots from all over the world for the kind of specialist training, realistic simulations and real-world expertise you rarely get elsewhere.
As a Tug Master, I handle ships by pulling and pushing them around, so to see these intricate manoeuvres using only the ships equipment really fascinated me.
I can’t thank all the instructors, Warsash and Solent uni enough for...

In this paper, the risk of ship pilotage in Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River is studied by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation: risk factor identification, risk evaluation and decision making suggestion.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).