Tarifa Pilot

Before you, you see my third article on pilot boarding arrangements. After my two previous articles
(‘1000 ways to secure a pilot ladder’ and ‘1000 ladders around’, I have received a lot of feedback and
also questions to get deeper into the matter of combinations and embarkation platforms.

Let's change our perspective and see how the team sets up an accommodation ladder.

Wind was blowing strong from the NE and the waves were becoming bigger and bigger by the time we reach a new client.
Crew didn't consider the rolling effect about to happen while changing heading in order to give lee when they prepared pilot ladder, so the requested 1.5m above the water was not that good.
I decided to abort and to give the vessel the chance to shorten it. In the next attempt they did it right and I was able to board safe

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

Video Showing a long bulk carrier ship Manoeuvring its way through narrow river channel.
Video Credit: Dave Avner

APA says: “Pilots share NOAA’s goal of protecting the North Atlantic right whale, but this is the wrong approach.”

In it´s August 2022 monthly safety scenario, the Swedish Club describes an accident where a pilot had fallen into the water, after one of the side ropes of the ladder broke.