GyroPilot Plus

Today I will discuss a very simple and useful practical trick often used by pilots.

When we have to berth a vessel with small clearances forward and aft (say 20 to 25 mtr fwd and aft) it is very essential that you are able to estimate your position. Now most of the time you have a berthing supervisor on jetty who will help you with position.

The ETA Nautical Technical Committee has worked together with the European Maritime Pilots Association in order to define a series of recommendations for tugboat captains, pilots and harbour masters which will help them optimise the energy efficiency on the tugs and the assisted vessels during harbour towage operations. These recommendations are based on 3 main principles: Planning, Cooperation and Communication.

The Port of Cork company has ordered a new pilot vessel from boat builders, Safehaven Marine based in Youghal.

Earlier this year ABP announced an investment of around £9 million to build nine new pilot boats. These vessels were ordered from Goodchild Marine Services Limited and are being built in Norfolk along with much of the supply chain coming from East Anglian suppliers.

Boat builder Metal Shark has delivered a 55’ x 17’ welded aluminum pilot boat to the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association in Mississippi.

In this episode, we are joined by Thijs Hoff, a maritime pilot with over 15 years of experience at sea and 4 years as Maritime pilot. Thijs will take us through the 'how' of becoming a maritime pilot, offering a detailed look at the educational pathways, skills, and work-life balance that come with the role.

Med Marine and IBK Ltd. signed a two-vessel contract for MED-P16 series last November for Nigerian Ports Authority’s operations in Lagos, Nigeria. A year after that, Nigerian Ports Authority takes the delivery of the two high- quality pilot boats. Both units have been despatched on a specialised transport vessel to Nigeria from Turkey.

Here’s a nice little video of rough weather sea trials that coincided with ‘Storm Agnes’ last week in the Interceptor 48 pilot boat ‘Svitzer Oued Laou’. The storm produced some pretty big waves at the entrance to Cork Harbour, and strong winds during the height of the storm. We managed to capture some cool footage from Roches PT lighthouse. It was fairly rough, although by not coinciding with the ebbing tide conditions aboard were quite comfortable, and our Pilot 48 handled it effortlessly...

"This is a Lakes Pilot hopping off the Huron Belle Pilot boat after we've pulled alongside the CSL Assiniboine on the Detroit River just above the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, MI
He walks along the side of the Pilot boat, holding onto the railing and then after the gangway from the ship is lowered into position, he steps up and pulls himself up to then begin walking up the gangway to the deck where he is greeted by the crew.
We then see one of the crew from the Pilot boat tieing up the...