This is the Ben Madigan pilot boat, one of the hard working fleet of Belfast Harbout pilot boats. ( I'm not sure but I believe this might be a Redbay Stormforce, built by Redbay boat builders at Cushendll. )
These fast, sturdy, boats have to ferry Belfast pilots out to large vessels coming in to Belfast harbour. Piloted vessels range from large tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, ferries and cruise liners, right down to barges and fishing boats. Not only this, Belfast Harbour pilots...

What a great pleasure to meet these guys at the harbour - they could not have been more helpful and forthright about their work. At first glance, the glide of these orange powerboats up and down Belfast Lough seems an almost effortless task, but close up this is a very skilled trade and constant management of risk 24/7 in high and low seas, jumping from ship to boat to land taking safe control of the great volume of steel vessel coming in and out of this busy port. Though a hub of...

The Hibernia joins the Belfast Harbour operational marine fleet.

Time Lapse Video:The deep draught VLCC PISCES STAR is approaching the Port of Rotterdam, after navigating through the Eurogeul and Maasgeul deep water channels in the Southern North Sea. The VLCC is proceeding in Calandkanaal channel to her berth in the Petroleumharbour No. 5.
Before coming alongside the VLCC is stopped and swung in the channel. Four harbour tugs are made fast to assist the manoeuvring vessel. Mooringboats bring the VLCC's steel mooring wires ashore when she is coming...

The individual pilot operates as part of a pilotage organisation. And, as with so many things, the whole is (much) more than the sum of the parts ...

PILOT LAUNCH SCAPA PATHFINDER IN ACTION...4/5/2020

I think this is one of my favorite Marine Pilots' pictures of the year. Very powerful. What a dynamic photo! The moment was instantly caught by the photographer.

Die Lotsenbrüderschaft Elbe ist ein geschlossener Kreis, der sich nicht gern in die Karten schauen lässt. Wer dort Mitglied werden und bis zu 400 Meter lange Containerpötte in den Hamburger Hafen steuern möchte, muss hohe Anforderungen erfüllen. Bewerber müssen mehrere Jahre lang zur See gefahren sein, um ausreichend Fahrpraxis zu haben. Aber es gibt immer weniger deutsche Seeleute, weil die Reeder billigere Kräfte aus dem Ausland bevorzugen. Dadurch wird es zunehmend schwierig,...

The Maritime Pilots Institute is the premier training facility for River Pilots employing a mix of virtual and real world facilities. Located in Covington Louisiana, we are 45 minutes from downtown New Orleans while offering the safety and amenities of small town life.
The training presents a balance between simulated locations with a variety of environmental conditions and manned scale models of cargo ships in a series of lakes with docking and currents and live factors such as wind and...

The IMPA safety campaign on pilot ladders has run for a long time now. In this document the results of the IMPA safety campaign have been analyzed from 2016 to 2020.