IMPA on Pilotage

View from the Bridge as the pilot navigates our 24,000 TEU vessel through the busy shipping channel safely to its berth. HMM thanks all the Pilots, Tug-Masters and Berthing Gangs for their important role in the safe passage of our fleet.

Required tug power and number of tugs needed in variable conditions of wind, current and waves isin most cases an assessment made by pilots based on their professional experience. However, assessments will raise questions by lawyers if something goes wrong. They will use tools to calculate what really is needed with respect to tug power and number of tugs. They have furthermore the advantage of time.

On August 10, 2026, Port Everglades celebrated the arrival of the largest cargo ship to ever visit the port. However, the water depth restrictions mean that the MSC Vandya was lightly loaded, negating the efficiency and environmental benefits of the industry's modern larger cargo vessels.

It will replace the "Coatham" pilot vessel which will now find a new home at the Port of Tyne after racking up 800,000 miles servicing the River Tees over a 20-year period.

Estonian boatbuilder Baltic Workboats has delivered a new pilot boat ordered by German vessel operator Flotte Hamburg, a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port Authority.

The latest edition of The New Zealand Pilot has been published (link in article).

November 9, 2020
Pilot boat approaching a barge on the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon.

The All India Maritime Pilots' Association has released its new journal for March

The Cosco Shipping Galaxy alongside Felixstowe Berth 9 cargo operations come to an end with the cranes beginning to boom up. Mooring gang in attendance and the tugs begin to go to station. The pilot requests for both to make fast on the centre lead fore and aft. Svitzer Kent makes fast centre lead aft while the Svitzer Sky makes fast centre lead forward. The Sky comes under the bow to pick up the heaving line but the crew slackens the head lines before the last crane had boomed up. Sky...