Marine Pilot

Nakilat’s newbuild MEGI LNG carrier Global Energy loaded a full cargo of LNG and transited the Panama Canal for the first time in late-2020. Chartered by Cheniere Marketing International, the 173,400cbm vessel is commercially and technically managed by Nakilat. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), 'Global Energy' is the first of four LNG carrier newbuilds to be delivered to Global Shipping Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Nakilat and Maran Ventures Inc. (Maran Ventures).

"A performance assessment tool for maritime pilotage operations" - by Jørgen Ernstsen, Norway
When the ship is approaching or leaving a port, a local navigational expert, the pilot, is often provided for assisting the bridge team to safely and efficiently navigate the littoral waters.

Efforts to free the giant container ship are continuing after the 400m-long vessel became stuck in the Suez canal. Local authorities attempted to dislodge the 220,000 ton vessel from the banks of the canal using tug boats, but the megaship remains stuck more than one day after it ran aground.

Already published for the first time in September 2020: Maritime piloting operations involve on-call work schedules that may lead to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. The study documented pilot work scheduling practices.

The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority has suggested a possible mistake by the captain of the Ever Given could have led to the grounding of the giant container ship in the waterway last month.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration's digital route service routeinfo.no provides over 600 digital sailing routes for navigation to all major ports in Norway. The service will support the navigators' route planning, and contribute to safer voyages.
A special thanks to Norwest Ship Management and Solstad Offshore for their contribution in this film.
©Kystverket/Appex

In the last couple of years several paid as well as free tools have made it easier than ever to access vessels on a map. Although vessels shown on a map have their place, authorities and industry are understanding the greater potential and value of the underlying AIS data.

'Balblair' Cromarty Firth's 2nd Safehaven Marine Interceptor 48 pilot boat on sea trials.

Up here in the north, we do things a little differently ...

There were some astonishing pictures in the press some weeks ago of a Royal Marine employing a jetpack to launch himself from a RIB to land on the deck of a ship with extraordinary precision. You cannot imagine that it would be a feasible proposition to equip pilots with such a device, but it did cross my mind after reading a horrible catalogue of disgraceful seamanship and poor design exhibited in what ought to be the simple matter of keeping pilots safe as they board and leave ships.