The Los Angeles Pilot Service has welcomed two new pilot boats, Angels Pilot and Angels Navigator, to the Port of Los Angeles. The 56-foot boats custom-built by Vigor Industrial made their way from Vancouver, Wash. to replace older pilot boats, Phineas Banning and Stephen M. White, which both served the Port of Los Angeles for more than 25 years and were recently retired. The new pilot boats are equipped with the latest safety, navigation, and fuel efficiency features designed to help the...
A new £1.35 million pilot vessel, Stainsby, was added to the Pilot Boat fleet last year. The vessel was built in Wales by Holyhead Marine Services, an experienced builder of pilot boats that delivered Teesport the similar Saltholme in 2014. The 16.5 metre boat is powered by twin Scania DI16 diesels, producing 525BHP @ 1800RPM. Transmission is via Twin Disc “Quickshift” MGX-5136SC Gearboxes.
It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.
Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.
