UK Ports and Pilots take firm stand against Non-compliant Trap Door Boarding arrangements

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

During the transit time on the pilot launch between the shore and the vessel, marine pilots will spend at least a portion of that time carrying out (either consciously or subconsciously) a risk assessment of the forthcoming operation.

Over the past few years a number of pilot transfer accidents have occurred resulting from total failure of the side ropes, one school of thought is that the methods of securing a pilot ladder is a factor in such occurrences.

Original title: "Watch how this Japanese pilot managed to get off the ship in bad weather condition"

At the mouth of the Columbia River lies "The Graveyard of the Pacific"—the deadliest river bar crossing on earth. To get a massive cargo ship safely through these crushing waves, an elite Bar Pilot has to board a moving ship by climbing a rope ladder and get's hoisted off the ship by helicopter 10 miles off shore in the Pacific Ocean. In this episode of What do you Wanna Cook?: PORTS UNKNOWN, we get you as close to the action as humanly possible. We take you inside the cockpit for an...

"This is a Lakes Pilot hopping off the Huron Belle Pilot boat after we've pulled alongside the CSL Assiniboine on the Detroit River just above the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, MI
He walks along the side of the Pilot boat, holding onto the railing and then after the gangway from the ship is lowered into position, he steps up and pulls himself up to then begin walking up the gangway to the deck where he is greeted by the crew.
We then see one of the crew from the Pilot boat tieing up the...

Boarding a vessel at sea is no simple task. This video provides detailed instructions and demonstrations about safe boarding of vessels.

Big thanks to Geraldton Port Authority for allowing Bill and I to go out in one of their pilot boats and board a ship. It was a beautiful day for it.

Pilot's boat port of Patras

Maersk will begin implementation of an innovation called Snap Back Arrestor (SBA) ropes on the mooring lines used to hold vessels in place while docked in port for loading and unloading. Mooring is one of the most dangerous aspects of port and vessel operations.