Tuesday, October 1st is the start date of the latest International Maritime Pilot Association's annual Safety Campaign.

Previous campaigns by the association have consistently shown results of pilot ladder deficiencies around the 20% mark.

On August 5, 2020 at approximately 10:30 pm, Sandy Hook Pilot Captain Timothy M. Murray was involved in an incident while boarding a tanker vessel inbound to the Port of New York & New Jersey. He sustained injuries after falling from a pilot ladder and was evacuated to a local hospital where his injuries proved to be fatal.

Pilot transfer arrangement is a sensitive topic to be discussed among the pilot’s fraternity. Although ships are designed and operated with compliance to the SOLAS requirements in all respects including the pilot transfer arrangements, there has been numerous deficiencies observed related to pilot transfer arrangements. The small deficiencies from the part of ships cause life threatening accidents for pilots and sometimes to the ship staff themselves. There are many instances of defective ladder and complacency in proper rigging of ladders has been reported almost every day in different parts of the world. Many pilots lost their life, severely injured for life and face many minor to major accidents. The latest incident being the Capt. Timothy Murray of Sandy hooks Pilot.

Electronic warfare in the Baltic Sea is escalating rapidly, with GPS and AIS disruptions posing growing risks to maritime navigation. Russia’s hybrid strategy is targeting both safety and stability in one of Europe’s most critical shipping regions. Pilots and crews now face a new reality: navigating under threat.

Up close with Ever Forward: Massive cargo ship stuck on Chesapeake Bay for a month

We have currently researched 20 vacancies for Marine Pilots around the world. Take a look at our job section, where 3 new offers have been added today.

Already nearly 25 years the authoritative guide on tug operations and IMO recommended. It addresses present and future developments and shows how training can be carried out and what should be trained,

Recently, Herman Broers launched the website PilotladderSafety.com.
This website’s goal is to increase pilot ladder safety by showing good practice examples regarding the rigging and use of pilot ladder arrangements . Do it right the first time!

Safehaven Marine have just launched a new pilot vessel for Svitzer. ‘Svitzer Oued Martil’ is a new 15m Interceptor 48 Pilot for pilotage operations in Tangier,Morocco and is the third pilot boat we have supplied to Svitzer in Tangier, with the first and second pilot 48’s working successfully the past 3 years and represents Safehaven’s 47th pilot vessel delivered Worldwide.

IMPA and CHIRP Maritime have collaborated on a video to support the 2024 IMPA Safety Campaign and Survey which takes place 1 - 15 October 2024. More details can be found at www.impahq.org.