Incident on 31 January 2020 : A rope of the pilot ladder breaks. Pilot could still reach the vessel

From that moment on I have been keeping a tally of the non compliant boarding arrangements I see in front of me on a daily base, and off course I participate in the annual safety campaign, conducted by IMPA each october.

A 35-year-old male sea pilot of the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) fell into the sea from a crude oil tanker near the N Shed Wharf in the port of Durban. A rope of the pilot ladder is said to have snapped for an undetermined reason when the man disembarked while leaving the crude oil tanker which was leaving the port of Durban.

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.

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...".

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a Marine Accident Brief about an accident that occurred in March 2019, involving the towing vessel Dixie Vandal, noting that the BNWAS alarm didn't prevent the fatigued pilot from falling asleep.

Norwegian shipping company Bukser og Berging has placed an order for a new pilot launch to be built by Kewatec Aluboat of Finland.

The Dutch freighter "Eemslift Hendrika", which was in distress at sea, was secured on Thursday night. Salvage crews succeeded in boarding the ship and connecting it to two tugboats. This was announced by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. It will now be towed to the harbour of the Norwegian city of Ålesund.

State regulators on Friday banned cargo ship pilots from using personal cellphones on Maryland waters. The Maryland Board of Pilots, which oversees cargo ship pilots, approved a rule change 10 months after, and in direct response to, the Ever Forward's weekslong grounding in the Chesapeake Bay. Instead of leading the team on the bridge of the Ever Forward, the pilot was on his phone for an hour, texting, sending emails and taking screenshots before running aground and getting stuck for 45...

More on the power of Simulation and Training: https://pages.wartsila.digital/simulation-and-training-yt
ISTLAB photos by SAMK / Pekka Lehmuskallio

The innovative and newly set up ship builder Wallaby Boats GmbH (WB), based in Kappeln,
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, has decided in the investment to build the world’s first crew transfer
vessel/daughter craft (CTV/DC) with a suspension system.