Bow thruster effect on ship's headway 1

When the bow thruster has been in operation for a while, pilots often notice that the ship not only turns but also gains speed. But why is this? Opinion by Capt. Hugues Cauvier.

This video has been recut and edited by the creator Hugues Cauvier. Previously there were three episodes, which have now been combined into one.

Welcome to Point Hope Shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In this video, I follow the float off of the Pacific Navigator, a hardworking pilot boat that serves the Port of Victoria and Ogden Point. We watch as the vessel is pulled along the marine railway, rotated on the turntable, and positioned onto the cradle. Once secured, the cradle lowers to float-off depth, and the Pacific Navigator fires up her engines for a short harbour spin before returning to duty. Some segments,...

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

Another valuable explanatory video by Knud Benedict:
Zig-Zag-Test-Manoeuvre for Yaw Stability, IMO Manoeuvring Standards and Crash Stop

This video shows an introduction on the Spiral-Test-Manoeuvre and describes the procedure how to steer through this manoeuvre and measure the data needed. The results will be displayed in a characteristic diagram allowing to identify stable and unstable conditions and related, detailed information, e.g. spiral loop width and height, rudder angle of neutral effect. Samples of stable and unstable ship behaviour demonstrations will be shown by Fast Time Simulation using the SAMMON Planning tool.

What happens when GNSS fails? In maritime navigation, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario – it’s a growing risk. Spoofing, jamming, and GNSS outages are increasing, especially in the Baltic Sea region. A failure can cripple navigation systems – with potentially serious consequences.

Ships don't exactly have brakes. Lou Vest, a retired Houston ship channel pilot tells us about a close encounter between a ship and a barge.
https://houstonmaritime.org

PTR Pilot Ladder

‘Storm Boelo’ gave us the opportunity for proper sea trials with our two new pilot boats.