Cargo ship crushes tugboat in Panama Canal

Port operations, whether these are being performed on water or on land, are often not without risk. Pilots boarding a ship while sailing, navigating through narrow passages, collision avoidance with other smaller or larger vessels, discharging and moving cargo on land, walking between container handling equipment and trucks…

The breakaway and subsequent grounding of oil products tanker CSC Friendship in the Port of Brisbane highlights that port infrastructure and associated shipping can be exposed to dynamic hazards, which includes the inherent uncertainty of extreme weather forecasts.

AMSA notes with concern that since November 2017 several pilots’ lives have been placed at risk, in six separate incidents where man ropes have parted, or its securing point has failed. In addition, AMSA regularly receives reports and complaints about non-compliant pilot transfer arrangements

Captain Jonathan Tennant has been called a hero for his decision to intentionally ground the Golden Ray, keeping it out of the main shipping channel.

Norwegian coast guard said that there is still a risk that the ship may capsize and pose an environmental
hazard.The ship is still drifting, and is located 40-50 nautical miles west of Alesund. KV Sortland is still on
site, and they are the Coastal Administration's eyes and ears.

Conference Paper (PDF) by ResearchGate: International Seminar on Safety and Security of Autonomous Vessels (ISSAV) and European STAMP Workshop and Conference (ESWC) 2019, At Helsinki, Finland

Helicopter services company NHV Group has won a contract extension with the Dutch Maritime Pilot’s Association (Nederlandse loodsencorporatie) to support maritime pilotage services in the Netherlands.

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.

The article was written by Allen Garfinkle, Executive Director – Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun