Cargo ship crushes tugboat in Panama Canal

It has been exactly one year ago that a pilot from Sandy Hook (New York), Dennis Sherwood, died in the line of duty while attempting to board the container vessel Maersk Kensington.
What has happened since then? Has safety been improved for the pilots?

Going down the accommodation ladder with neither lifevest nor safety line must have been based on similar, past, successful operations, which may have never been challenged on board. This ‘slippage’ in safety is a pernicious and common phenomenon.

The St. Andrew’s Bay Pilots are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Captain Phillip Brady, age 46, on January 12, 2026.

In Novorossiysk (Russia, Black Sea), a marine pilot died during a pilot transfer and an investigation has been launched. The incident occurred on the evening of 14 March at about 21:40.

High water is necessary for salvage - 1 p.m. is the earliest possible start for the next salvage attempt of the 400-metre-long vessel.

While filming for the Voyager T2000, Frank from Safehaven Marine asked if I wanted to make a video about the brand new Pilot Interceptor 60. There was no way I was going to miss this opportunity!
If you would like to find out more about this boat or would like to get in touch with me about anything mentioned in this video: 👉🏻 https://linktr.ee/john_johnson 👈🏻
Voyager T2000 Yacht Tour: https://youtu.be/Z8m7mWNWGAs
Voyager T2000 sea trial: https://youtu.be/ihgjtrgV0O4

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In this video I am performing a job on Commencement Bay in Tacoma. I am picking up a Pilot and dropping him off on an inbound ship so he can bring it to the dock safely.

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...

What a dangerous situation. Never seen that before.