River Bann Pilots

Created by Tim Cummins. This is an uncontrolled example of the latest passage plan used by the Pilot Service at Portsmouth International Port.

Built by Luke Powell and his working Sail Yard in Truro, Cornwall, launched in February 2020. The lines were taken from the Vincent, a Falmouth Pilot cutter built in 1852 for the Vincent family of St Mawes. She worked for 70 years as a pilot boat, finally retiring in 1922 and ending her days as a houseboat on the Percuil River very close to the yard where she had been built. When the idea to build a new pilot cutter of considerable size was born, the lines of Vincent were seen as the...

A more unique angle regarding freighter departures; I was able to film the routine disembarking of one of our local ship captains and officers after piloting Solina out of the harbor. This is a required procedure, as per US Maritime Laws, all international freighters must be piloted in and out of a US harbor by a US Captain. Here we have out local pilot vessel Sea Bear running up alongside the Solina to allow the two officers to depart the freighter before she heads out across Lake Superior

The transfer of pilots to and from seagoing vessels should not rely solely on mutual trust and good intentions.

The Indian Register of Shipping has published a Technical Circular on pilot boarding arrangements this week. Here you can download and read the document.

The Virginia Pilot Association has ordered a high-speed, harbor pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. It’s the pilots’ tenth launch built by the Somerset, Mass., shipyard. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2023.

PSA Marine has unveiled the first-of-its-kind Liquid Bulk module (“LqB”) under PSA Marine’s ONEHANDSHAKE™ platform, which will revolutionise the way industry players within the liquid bulk logistics chain interact, and empower them to effortlessly transact with one another.

The National Transportation Board said Thursday that a Mississippi River towing vessel’s pilot and its captain pushed its tow up against a riverbank too close to a railroad track, leading to a collision and train derailment near Galland, Iowa.

Captain Jonathan Tennant has been called a hero for his decision to intentionally ground the Golden Ray, keeping it out of the main shipping channel.