SafePilot CAT I

There were some astonishing pictures in the press some weeks ago of a Royal Marine employing a jetpack to launch himself from a RIB to land on the deck of a ship with extraordinary precision. You cannot imagine that it would be a feasible proposition to equip pilots with such a device, but it did cross my mind after reading a horrible catalogue of disgraceful seamanship and poor design exhibited in what ought to be the simple matter of keeping pilots safe as they board and leave ships.

Some pilots have already lost their lives because of this non-compliant construction. We don't want to see such an arrangement again. Here is a latest video from the Middle East.

International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) received the 2022 SAFETY4SEA Initiative Award for conducting annually its ‘Pilot Ladder Safety Campaign’ with the objective of reporting pilots’ experiences of ladders and boarding equipment to the IMO and the wider shipping community. Other distinguished short-listed nominees of this category were: Inmarsat, International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), Safetytech Accelerator and Seafarers Hospital Society. We are honored to be...

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...

Welcome to our next episode of:- Pilot Talks... Pilot ki Baat..! Hosted by Capt. Vijay Sharma, Master Mariner @capt.vijay along with Co-Host Capt.Gajanan Karanjikar, President of AIMPA, India @captgajanan We have the honor to invite our Special Guest. Capt. Ashok Gole.

Canon Mark II
2012
As the chemical tanker ship enters Istanbul, the pilot boat docks.
Istanbul Bosphorus

#Short #BulkCarrier Ship "NAMURA QUEEN"/ On board #PilotVessel "SEA LIGHT"/ #JP #Recalada #KM239_1 #puntaindiochannel  #RioDeLaPlata #Argentina / 02nd. April 2025 - 17:13 Local Time.- This video (with original sound) was filmed on board the Pilot Vessel "SEA LIGHT" and shows the moments in which the Pilot Boat departed from the port side of the Bulk Carrier Ship "NAMURA QUEEN", after finished with the Disembarking Maneuver of the Rio de la Plata Pilot, at #BoardingStation​ #JP​ #KM239_1...

Here’s a cool little video of the 12.5m Barracuda SV we have just launched out on her rough weather sea trials recently, with some great Arial drone footage of her going through some fairly big breaking seas offshore.
Built for ‘Future Defence’ in the USA she is designed for search & rescue and coastal patrol duties. She is fully self-righting, able to recover if capsized by a large breaking sea and capable of all-weather operations. Powered by a pair of Caterpillar C8.7 650hp engines, ZF...

SWATH and SWASH are interesting technologies that allow a vessel to sail much more calmly in high waves. A stable and calm position of the ship is especially important for pilot boarding.