Maryland bans cellphone use by cargo ship pilots

The Maryland Board of Pilots has decided to enact a rule change that forbids on-duty pilots from using their phones.

Efforts to free the giant container ship are continuing after the 400m-long vessel became stuck in the Suez canal. Local authorities attempted to dislodge the 220,000 ton vessel from the banks of the canal using tug boats, but the megaship remains stuck more than one day after it ran aground.

A container ship is reported to be stranded off the coast of Gibson Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Marine Tracker lists the ship as the Ever Forward and that it is aground. It appears there are several tugboats out of Baltimore trying to assist. The company that operates the ship, Evergreen, is the same one that was responsible for the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal a year ago.

Since October, pilots from Kiel have been unable to use their offshore transfer station. Long detours and limited rest periods have complicated their workdays, with no end in sight.

Finnpilot Pilotage Ltd has reinforced its long-standing partnership with Marine Alutech by placing an order for another Watercat 160 Pilot vessel. This latest acquisition marks the sixth vessel of the new 160 Pilot Series for the Finnish Pilotage organisation’s fleet.

In the last couple of years several paid as well as free tools have made it easier than ever to access vessels on a map. Although vessels shown on a map have their place, authorities and industry are understanding the greater potential and value of the underlying AIS data.

As a result of the extraordinary situation resulting from the global Covid-19 outbreak and, in particular, the various public health measures and travel restrictions implemented by many jurisdictions around the world to fight propagation of the virus, IMPA has decided to postpone its biennial Congress in Cancun to 23 to 29 Mayr 2021.

Following in a long line of ever more refined and very seaworthy vessels, this small example of a Safehaven pilot boat has been chosen for operations on and around Scotland’s Cromarty Firth.

As a British supplier of driveline and propulsion solutions into the UK market, MIT was delighted to be involved in the 9 million pound investment into the industry by Associated British Ports (ABP) for a fleet of new pilot vessels to be built and supplied by Goodchild Marine Services Limited.

Two investment contracts for supplying 10 pilot boats required by the country's ports, as well as a memorandum of cooperation between the PMO and Iran University of Science and Technology will be Signed by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development.