Rio de Janeiro Pilots have a new president

What does a pilot ship do and how does it work in one of the largest ports in Brazil, come with us to follow this adventure

Evening Pilotage of inward entry to Rio De Janeiro on Aframax tanker.

The 160 pilots allotted to the PZ are distributed in eight pilot companies responsible for attending ships that seek the ports or terminals of Santana (AP), Munguba (PA), Santarém (PA), Trombetas (PA), Juruti (PA) and Itacoatiara (AM), as they sail upriver (against the current).

Helicopter services company NHV Group has won a contract extension with the Dutch Maritime Pilot’s Association (Nederlandse loodsencorporatie) to support maritime pilotage services in the Netherlands.

Dublin Port Company (DPC) of Ireland has taken delivery of a new pilot boat from UK-based Goodchild Marine Services. DPC Dodder is the second pilot boat in a series to be built by Goodchild Marine for the same owner.

The European Union proposed making so-called pilot services exempt from sanctions targeting the transfer of Russian oil that are set to kick in this year to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

"A performance assessment tool for maritime pilotage operations" - by Jørgen Ernstsen, Norway
When the ship is approaching or leaving a port, a local navigational expert, the pilot, is often provided for assisting the bridge team to safely and efficiently navigate the littoral waters.

"Last legislative session, river pilots committed to making African Americans and other minorities aware of the growing number of career opportunities in Louisiana's maritime industry," said river pilot Captain Lee Jackson in a statement.

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.

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.