Malta Maritime Pilots: 20 Years of Service

In our new new section “Five questions for ..." Marine-Pilots.com introduces pilots and other market players to our readers in short interviews.

Today we have talked to  Frank Kowalski, Managing Director at Safehaven Marine

This is a short video of the Hamburg Pilot boarding Queen Mary 2. These people make it look easy but, it is a dangerous manoeuvre.

Footage of the "Pilot Station Vessel" POLARIS of the Dutch Pilot Organisation, made with a DJI Phantom Drone, controlled with a FPV (First Person View), and equipped with a GoPro Hero 3 camera.
The location is Maascenter, an important navigation point for ships entering the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Date: 15 may 2014. Music: Skrillex - Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites.

During 2022 Saab’s shipyard in Docksta has delivered two Pilot Boats to Germany. In December a contract for a new Pilot Boat for Germany was signed.

Breaux’s Bay Craft, Loreauville, La., delivered the new 90’x23’x12’4″ aluminum pilot boat Spindletop to the Sabine Pilots on March 6. The Sabine Pilots, Port Arthur, Texas, serve the Texas ports of Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont. “This is the biggest pilot boat built in the U.S.,” said Roy Breaux, the shipyard’s owner. “There are bigger ones in other parts of the world, but this is the largest in the U.S.”

Here’s a nice little video of the sea trials of ‘Svitzer Oued Martil’ including some cool on-board 360 camera footage of her going through some pretty big breaking seas during rough weather testing, and some nice foggy day drone footage and trials alongside the Brittany Ferry ‘Armorique’.

Adding map and speedometer widgets to your GoPro video clips. Tips by Capt. Kris de Decker

Danpilot Merkur (MMSI 219001061) Pilot Vessel. Displacement 20. L. 13.90. W. 4.60. Built 1995. Dockstavarvet, Sweden. Flag Denmark.

She was the talk of the town and now she is gone till the next time. The Navios Unite, as she is called, is 1,100' long and 140' wide. That is 8' longer than a Nimitz class aircraft carrier and 6' wider at the waterline. The ship is so wide, it requires two pilots to transit. While in the top 5, it isn't the largest ship of any type to ever transit the river, but it is the largest container ship to do so.