Marine Pilot

Maritime pilots trace the roots of their profession back to the ancient Greeks and Romans when incoming ship captains employed experienced local fisherman to guide their merchant vessels safely into port. It’s a legacy of skill, strength, and sharp wits, and our Houston Pilots (“Pilots”) have been meeting vessels at Galveston’s bar to carry on these proud traditions for just shy of 100 years.

This video was produced in September 2013 to provide an easy-to-understand introduction to pilotage in Japan.

We bid farewell to our Otaru marine pilot just outside Otaru Harbor, Japan. The crew of the pilot tug were particularly fastidious about not marking up the side of the Viking Orion during the operations, spraying the interface with water, even though that might have made the transfer more hazardous for the pilot. From the Viking Orion, October 2024

Impatience is triggered when we have a set goal (for example berthing a vessel) but realise it's going to cost us more than we thought to reach it (the vessel is only making 6 knots against the tide and is taking much longer than predicted).

On this episode of What's Going on With Shipping, Sal Mercogliano - former merchant mariner and maritime historian at Campbell University - updates the situation regarding the grounding of MV Ever Forward, which departed Baltimore on March 13, 2022 enroute to Norfolk.

Rebuilding a historic sailing yacht – Visiting Luke Powell’s latest Pilot Cutter / Planking a traditional wooden ferry boat. Support; http://www.sampsonboat.co.uk/support-tally-ho Become a Patron; http://www.patreon.com/sampsonboatco ----- THIS episode, I visit local boatbuilder Luke Powell and his team, who are building an enormous Pilot Cutter called Pellew, which is a copy of the Vincent, originally built in 1852. Then I head back to Butler & Co’s yard in Penpol, and explain how I fit...

Capt. Luigi Mennella is the new President of the Italian Federation of Ports Pilots.

Review of Capt. Paul Lobo's book "Crossing the bar". The valet parker for ships: More than 30 years of being a Pilot. Book Review by Bianca Reineke, Germany