River Mersey Pilot Boat going slowly inbound on the river before turning and heading northbound again.

These are some of the reliable sturdy Pilot boats of Netherlands and Belgium to bring and pick up Marine Pilots to and from commercial merchant vessels either inbound or outbound. The Marine Pilots are licensed PROFESSIONALS who have a thorough knowledge of a certain port and they guide the Master/Captain of commercial ships in and out of the foreign Seaport. Location: Steenbank Pilot Station, Flushing/Vlissingen Pilot Station, Wandelaar Pilot Station. Boats in order of appearance in this...

Over the course of 4 days this August, I was afforded the opportunity and privilege of riding with the Savannah Bar Pilots for an article I was writing for a major maritime magazine. The pilots are given the responsibility of boarding a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean and safely navigating the vessel up the Tybee Road 9 (a name for the shipping lane that leads into the Savannah River), into the Savannah River, and into the Port of Savannah. The same is done in reverse when a ship is outbound...

Explosions and major fire on Aframax crude oil tanker MT. JAG LEELA at Belawan, Indonesia. 10 May 3020

How LUXSPACE uses AIS messages to monitor worldwide shipping traffic

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.

One of the biggest ships in the world, 23,000+ TEU container ship MSC MIA, reportedly contacted gantry crane while leaving container terminal at Valencia.

This video shows the reality of pilots in Kenya.

@Captain Ertan Ozgur, Senior Maritime Pilot

Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on the important role of tugboats in navigating the bigger vessels in harbors and canal, as well as the open seas.