Ship Report Podcasts: Pilot boats - a special breed

French operator Seine River Pilot Station has expanded its fleet of pilot boats with the recent acquisition of a newbuild vessel from local builder Chantier Naval Delavergne.

KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

Video by Safehaven Marine / Frank Kowalski
Here’s a cool video of the latest Interceptor 48 pilot boat we’ve launched for the Gdynia Pilots in Poland. We captured some nice alongside ship footage during the sea trials and had a chance to test out our new drone ‘catch net’ on Thunder Child.

Produced by Safehaven Marine

The mouth of the Duluth Canal is a dangerous entrance in bad weather. Here the coast guard shows the agility of their boats. What a ride!

The pilot for the port of Cairns jumping off the pilot boat and getting onto the cruise ship. 
Carnival Luminosa December 2024 

Video: Climbing the pilot ladder, the pilot is hit by Pilot Boat.

AMSA notes with concern that since November 2017 several pilots’ lives have been placed at risk, in six separate incidents where man ropes have parted, or its securing point has failed. In addition, AMSA regularly receives reports and complaints about non-compliant pilot transfer arrangements

Fathom Safety now offers an online course on Pilot Ladder Training

Operators and supervisors of the operations center (atalaia) of Praticagem da Barra do Rio Grande participated in an update course in online and face-to-face mode. They had classes on nautical charts, electronic charts (ECDIS), radars, portable pilot units (portable electronic navigation equipment) and technical English. "There is no good operation without recurrent training with good tools", says pilotage operational director, practical Bernardo Ramos