Pilot boat approaching

Watch Orion, one of the two new boats of Jacobsen Pilot Service in Long Beach, Calif. in action. Designed by Tim Nolan Marine Design of Port Townsend, Wash., these boats with waterjet propulsion were built from composite materials at Nordlund Boat Company in Tacoma, Wash. Video courtesy of John Harris.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation delivered a Chesapeake class pilot boat to the Seaway Pilots Inc. in Cape Vincent, NY. The Seaway pilots navigate ships in and out of the ports and harbors of the St. Lawrence Seaway between St. Regis, NY and Port Weller on Lake Ontario.

Safehaven Marine build a range of vessels for many different operational roles such as patrol, survey, crew transfer to name a few, but what makes Safehaven unique is that we specialize in pilot boats, with 80% of our production dedicated to just this area, and have supplied over 50 pilot craft all around the world over the last 17 years.

When publishing articles or pictures about pilots and their pilot ladders, very often we see the use of backpacks. The use of backpacks is controversial, since its weight, or buoyancy, can influence the functioning of the lifejacket used.

Charleston Harbor pilots play crucial role in safely navigating ships to port

Gabon, Baie du Prince, 2012.
Getting that nice fat lady alongside

After almost four hours of work to safely guide and assist the Ship's Captain in navigating the vessel out from Liverpool's Royal Seaforth Container/Roro Terminal (RSCT) in Liverpool UK, the Harbor Pilot disembarks at Bar Pilot Station, a rendezvous point or certain place where a ship should take the Sea/River/Harbor Pilot on and off. In this video, the Pilot disembarked at the Starboard side (right side), lee side of the vessel which is the normal practice. The term "lee side" means away...

The seaport of Nouakchott, Mauritania, is experiencing problems related to wind and swell, risks of grounding due to unreliable berth depths, harbour infrastructure damage claims, an acceptance of the vessel's draught survey figures and shortage claims.