To The Heads with the Port Phillip Sea Pilots - Nepean

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).

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.

The Port of Townsville, northern Australia’s largest multi-cargo port, is expanding its fleet of pilot boats to four.

The Port has awarded Hart Marine a $3 million contract to build a 17.3m ORC vessel that is due for delivery later in 2020. The new high-tech vessel will be slightly longer but have the same design features as the PV Osprey which was delivered by Hart Marine in late 2017.

At Safehaven Marine it was great to be able to launch a new pilot boat for the Port of San Ciprian in Spain after nearly 2 months of Lockdown. She was nearly finished at the start of the lockdown. It sure was nice to be on the water again, even with social distancing.
We wanted to do something nice to lift everyone's spirits during these challenging times around the World, so we did a fly past our home Port of Cobh in Thunder Child II (Safehaven’s Transatlantic record attempt vessel) in...

The investment in the vessels to work on the busy waterways will see the arrival next year of the next generation of pilot boats built by Holyhead Marine.

Join us for a full exterior walkaround of the Norwegian pilot boat LOS 107 while she’s underway — bow to stern, wheelhouse to fenders. Real-time footage of a working pilot/launch at sea. Vessel overview Name: LOS 107 (listed as “Lodsbåd / Vessel”) Type: Pilot boat / pilot launch / workboat Built: 1998 (Norway) Hull material: Aluminium Length overall (LOA):17.1 m Beam: ~4.0–4.3 m (approx.) Draft: ~1.0 m (approx.) Displacement / GT: small workboat class (light displacement) Propulsion: Twin...

Some pilots have already lost their lives because of this non-compliant construction. We don't want to see such an arrangement again. Here is a latest video from the Middle East.

Some words on cruise ships and their compliance with SOLAS ch.V reg 23, IMO A.1045(27)? At the start of 2020 a pandemic we haven’t seen before in hundreds of years has struck the world, putting economies to a halt and had a devastating effect on the beautiful cruise business.