#DangerousLadders on Facebook

Before you, you see my third article on pilot boarding arrangements. After my two previous articles
(‘1000 ways to secure a pilot ladder’ and ‘1000 ladders around’, I have received a lot of feedback and
also questions to get deeper into the matter of combinations and embarkation platforms.

Jacobsen Pilot Service and Los Angeles Pilot Station published a notice to all ships to inspect pilot ladders before the pilot boards.

Reason is an incident happened at the port of long beach in July 2020. Pilot ladder rope broke while the pilot was on the ladder - luckily the pilot was able to hold on.

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

Container ship MADRID TRADER ran aground in fairway while entering Mar del Plata Port, Argentina, at around 1830 UTC Jan 20, with pilot on board.

On February 9th, 2023 Unites States Coast guard issued a safety alert (04-22-CH1) in which attention is drawn to the correct positioning of handhold stanchions onboard of ships.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

Meet the weather our HM Coastguard Humberside helicopter, RNLI - Humber Lifeboat Station and emergency tugs faced on Saturday when the Thea II grounded. The good news is that she refloated without any pollution reported and has now berthed safely into King George Docks, Hull where she awaits a visit from our MCA surveyors and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch #allsafe

Over the past two years, RightShip has reviewed more than 21,000 PSC inspections, assessed over 2,500 incidents, and inspected over 4,600 vessels. This is in addition to the reviewing a large number of SIRE reports as part of the vetting process. Despite the industry’s efforts and campaigns to educate, we have observed an upward trend in deficiencies and non-conformities involving pilot ladders and arrangements. The data gathered from RightShip Inspections indicates that the pilot ladder...

This paper aims to explore the possibilities of improving team performance on the bridge in pilotage waters. The pilot and the bridge team have a common goal: to navigate the ship safely and smoothly.

Sanmar Shipyards is celebrating completing a record number of vessels within one calendar month, with six tugs and two pilot boats gaining their class certificates during January 2022.