Pilot Boat PIONEER from The Netherlands

KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

Spotted some Pilot Boats in the Port of Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne & Fremantle Australia (Port codes: Auckland:NZ AKL ; Melbourne:AU MEL ; Fremantle:AU FRE).

At the end of the disembarking procedure, the pilot jumps on ropes onto the pilot boat. Is this often seen practice safe? Can the pilot resolve the situation better?

Port Everglades Pilot Carl Mahler boarding the Submarine USS New Hampshire SSN 778 in rough weather.

"Rope Ladders" by PTR Holland

Correct method of rigging pilot ladder explained.
As explained, a large number of reports related to the use of pilot ladders which are too long relative to the vessel’s draughts. As a result, the excessively long ladders require shortening up before being deployed for boarding pilots. In these cases, ship crew shortens the pilot ladders, using D-shackles to choke the side ropes at the required height along the ladder’s length. In this method, the D-shackle is first secured to a hard point...

ABP Southampton: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that some ships have a pilot transfer arrangement consisting of an accommodation ladder / pilot ladder combination with a trapdoor that does not meet IMO standards in effect since at least 2012.

Here’s a cool little video of the 12.5m Barracuda SV we have just launched out on her rough weather sea trials recently, with some great Arial drone footage of her going through some fairly big breaking seas offshore.
Built for ‘Future Defence’ in the USA she is designed for search & rescue and coastal patrol duties. She is fully self-righting, able to recover if capsized by a large breaking sea and capable of all-weather operations. Powered by a pair of Caterpillar C8.7 650hp engines, ZF...

A story I shot on the Delaware river pilots, very cool people who have a very important job. Every cargo ship that has to get anywhere up the Delaware River gets a pilot delivered to it while in the Delaware Bay, who guides it up through the narrow shoals