Theory and Practices of Marine Pilotage Kindle Edition by Capt Santosha K Nayak

Our Pilot Boats play a crucial role in maintaining the daily flow of maritime traffic to and from Belfast Harbour. Working 24/7, 365 days a year, in all kinds of weather conditions, this dedicated team carries out the vital task of bringing the Harbour Pilots out to arriving vessels, where they guide them safely into their berths, as well as disembarking them, often in challenging sea conditions on Belfast Lough.
Kayleigh Ward, our sole female pilot boat crew member, reveals how she gave up...

In 2006 I was invited to join Port of London Pilot Capt. Tom Miller on one of his last few voyages before his retirement. A pilot cutter ferried us from the Gravesend Port office to the Port of London Terminal where the Hebridean Spirit waited for us to board. Once aboard, the ship's captain manoeuvred the vessel off its moorings and into the channel. After handing the vessel over to Capt. Miller, the Captain joined the ship's company for dinner, and the first offer and a helmsman remained...

Using two, 66TBP tugs to assist in berthing the 90,000 GT bulker “Jin Weng Feng”. The port is “Puerto Brisas” at La Guajira, Colombia. The vessel is turned to port just outside the berth limits due to limited room in the basin with enough depth. Then she’s backed in.

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...

Awesome video from Puget Sound.

Here’s a cool video of the latest Interceptor 48 pilot boat we’ve launched for the Gdynia Pilots in Poland. We captured some nice alongside ship footage during the sea trials, and had a chance to test out our new drone ‘catch net’ on Thunder Child.

Welcome to another exciting episode of A Spotlight to Panama! This week, we dive into the intricate operations of the Panama Canal with Carlos Mata, a Tugboat Captain with the Panama Canal Authority. The Panama Canal is a marvel of global engineering, requiring precise and coordinated efforts to ensure smooth transit for ships from around the world. Tugboats play a critical role in this process, and today, Captain Mata gives us an inside look at what it takes to keep this maritime artery...

In the second of our series focusing on ‘Our people at ports’, we catch up with Pierre Chays, our Marine Safety Manager and Pilot who gives us a behind the scenes look at what our Harbours Team is doing during these difficult times in supporting the movement of essential freight services in and out of the Island. For him, it is very much ‘business as usual’ – and outside of his working hours he’s getting used to having another baby around the house.

Editors Note:
Safety is different
One comment on YouTube on this video:
"No hard hats, no Hi-Viz clothing (in case pilot falls in) the one at 5:16 has not even got a life jacket - absolute cowboys!"