New pilot boats christened at Port of Gdańsk

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.

River Mersey Pilot Boat going slowly inbound on the river before turning and heading northbound again.

Vessel name: Polaris ; Year built: 2012 ; Flag: Netherlands ; Homeport: Rotterdam Length: 81.2m X 13.3m ; GRT: 2501 ; Callsign: PBZN ; MMSI:245142000 ; IMO: 9496915 Type: Special Vessel / Pilot Ship A "Pilot Ship / Pilot Vessel" is a "special type" of ship in which it accommodates a certain and limited Marine Pilots (Sea, River, Harbor Pilots), it also carries small boats/crafts that are used to tender services to and from the Pilot ship. In a Pilot Vessel, the Pilots can take their time...

The Virginia Pilot Association has added a new high-speed pilot launch to its fleet, delivered by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. This marks the tenth vessel built by the Somerset, Massachusetts yard for the association since 1983

Pilot Boats can be inspected in Finland. Price: € 590,000 each (new price approx. € 1,300,000 each).
They have been overhauled there and will be sold with a new shipyard guarantee on shipbuilding. IMCA MISW report is available

The pilot boys on the river Haven.

We were lucky to come across the Tom Crean whilst offshore putting some hours on the Interceptor 60 pilot P&O Sahm. Taking the opportunity to undertake some alongside handling trials, we captured some cool footage of Tom Crean pushing through the waves.

She is destined for their pilotage operations at Jebel Ali in the UAE, the Worlds ninth busiest port and follows their first Pilot 60 ‘Murshid’ delivered last December.

A small video tutorial showing some useful tips for pilotage using Transas Pilot PRO application for iPad - Part 2, Berthing

In this one you will see a couple different times when the Pilot boards or leaves the ship and how they do it. It is always interesting to watch even though I have seen it many time. Hope you all enjoy the video and hope to see you in the comments as always.