China: Accident caused by mass pilots quarantines

Vessels are being stranded at ports on the river due to the lack of pilots and the line-up of vessels forced to wait in the anchorage outside the estuary is increasing rapidly. Owners are unclear how long the problem will last

The United Kingdom Maritime Pilots' Association (UKMPA) has all been inundated with CV19 communications from all manner of sources in the last few weeks. Here is a condensed collection of information from the UKMPA.

Fewer vessels in voyage mean less pilotage and this means less income for many Pilots. Not every Pilot is an employee and many pilots are self-employed and organised in a brotherhood per example. They are earning only money if they are piloting a vessel. No vessel – no money.

The Dutch freighter "Eemslift Hendrika", which was in distress at sea, was secured on Thursday night. Salvage crews succeeded in boarding the ship and connecting it to two tugboats. This was announced by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. It will now be towed to the harbour of the Norwegian city of Ålesund.

My personal impression is that a lot has changed in terms of safety in the last two years. Non-compliance with current legislation that directly affects the safety of pilots is now no longer tolerated by many stakeholders. Something is happening. And that is a good thing.

The pilot station Le Havre-Antifer-Fécamp christened, on October 7 in Le Havre, the "Sainte-Honorine", the sixth launch of its fleet.

Recently Capt. Troy Evans did a research into the breaking strength of various securing methods. To quantify the problem of unsafe practices, now is time to have a survey into the number of the various securing methods used worldwide.

During the night Mar 28-29 EVER GIVEN was moved from her initial grounding position and hopefully, soon, will be either refloated, or positioned alongside Canal eastern bank, to free the Canal for shipping.

Safehaven Marine, pilot boat specialist builders in Ireland have launched a new Interceptor 48 pilot boat for the Port of Coruna in Northern Spain. ‘Practicos Coruna Ochno’ is powered by a pair of Volvo D13 500hp continuously rated engines and ZF Gearboxes. Propulsion is by conventional sterngear turning 28” propellers giving her a 25kts continuous operational speed. Capable of carrying 7 pilots and crew all on shock mitigation seating comfortably in her spacious fully lined cabin with extremely low noise levels of 73db recorded.

The vessel 8T gross tonnage above necessary inland and harbor pilot before inter the port of Japan.