New website online: Port Phillip Sea Pilots

Brisbane Marine Pilots launched their new website. Go to www.brisbanepilots.com.au to find out more about BMP. There you will also find useful links to the Port Procedure Manual, Pre-Arrival information for visiting vessels, tides and weather updates.

Take a look!

We are pleased to announce that the New Zealand Maritime Pilot Association has launched its new website www.nzmpa.org.

This publication (2024) details the rules, regulations and procedures that should be followed when preparing for pilot embarkation and disembarkation. It includes relevant excerpts from SOLAS regulations and IMO resolutions.

The Pacific Pilotage Authority says: "There is a common misunderstanding amongst vessel operators that vessels built prior to 2012 are exempt from some of the requirements for pilot transfer arrangements. This is incorrect...".

Associated British Ports (ABP) will upgrade its recently acquired pilot launches to enhance safety, effectiveness, and sustainability, incorporating feedback from its pilots and marine teams. The program will expand the fleet of larger vessels from three to five, replace older models, and improve seakeeping, crew safety, comfort, handling, fuel efficiency, and emissions reduction.

In December 2020, Australian Pilot Captain Ritesh Bhamaria was expertly piloting oil tanker MT Godam through the Torres Strait in adverse weather conditions when he and the vessel crew sighted a distant hand waving for help in the rough sea.

The next step for NZMPA is to issue a set of regulator-endorsed guidance notes. The first version will focus on accommodation ladders used in conjunction with pilot ladders.

M/V PILOT 62 (CHEOY LEE shipyards 17m Self-righting Pilot Boat)

The Indian Register of Shipping has published a Technical Circular on pilot boarding arrangements this week. Here you can download and read the document.