Maritime Education #5: Pilotage Operations on General Cargo ship

At Humber Maritime College we have state-of-the-art marine simulators to teach our Merchant Navy cadets in an environment close to reality, preparing them for a career at sea.

How to get information for wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current? - this will be described in this movie:
- Measure Drift speed, due to beam wind with no propulsion;
- Measure drift speed using full thrusters
- Estimate wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current...
- Finally there is a simple formula as Rule of Thumb: the transverse drift speed is about 7-8% of wind speed!

What is causing the forward motion of a stopped vessel using continous bow thruster action?
by Capt. H. Cauvier

Shipping has evolved significantly over the years. Research in maritime safety and operations over the past few decades has been intensive and has resulted in significant improvements.

Required tug power and number of tugs needed in variable conditions of wind, current and waves isin most cases an assessment made by pilots based on their professional experience. However, assessments will raise questions by lawyers if something goes wrong. They will use tools to calculate what really is needed with respect to tug power and number of tugs. They have furthermore the advantage of time.

In the video shared, made by the Coast Guard communication department during the training days held at the Decimomannu and Pescara bases, some of the phases of the training, such as take-off-departure and 'winching' the pilot on board, are illustrated in sequence.

Singapore Harbour Pilot, “Who We Are”

Here’s a nice video of the recent sea trials with ‘South Esk’, a new Interceptor 48 pilot boat for the Montrose Port Authority in Scotland. It was fairly rough during our sea trial days with a fair bit of wind, and although it was touch and go flying the drone, we managed to capture some wonderful video of her and Ederra 7 at the entrance to Cork Harbour in a gale.

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.