Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots Executive Director

paradip pilot onboard along side at ship

These are various views of the pilot vessels coming and going from the pilot dock in Vlissingen prior to 2020.

London Pilots (PLA) have issued an excellent quick reference guide for Pilot Transfer arrangements, which can be used for pilots as well as ship’s crews. Please take not of this document and if you can, try to incorporate it into your procedures.

A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, bar pilot, or simply pilot, is a sailor who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. They are navigational experts possessing knowledge of the particular waterway such as its depth, currents, and hazards.

The Ever Act, the worlds largest and the second to be built out of a series of 12 record breaking vessels prepares to depart Felixstowe Berth 9 with a maximum draught of 10.2 metres for her next port of Hamburg.  As the DFDS ferry was heading inbound at the North Shipwash, Harwich VTS had asked then to make best speed so they planned to get the Suecia Seaways through before the Ever Act broke away. A Harwich Haven Pilot Launch heads over from Harwich with a pilot for the Ever Act....

Boarding M/V ETERNAL HAKATA

ABB will deliver an integrated electric propulsion system and advanced vessel control technology for Crowley’s pioneering eWolf tug, built for sustainable and safe operations at the Port of San Diego.

The San Francisco Bar Pilots are one of the important cogs in our supply chain wheel. They are tasked with boarding the vessels eleven miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge via a rope ladder often in rough seas and taking control of the vessels en route to the Port of Stockton. Once on the bridge of the ship, the Pilot oversees navigation and ensures the safe passage of ships into the Bay and through the Delta until it is secured alongside its berth at the Port. Without these Pilots the...

U.S. Coastgard has published an update of their Recommendation for Pilot Transfer Arrangements in latest Marine Safety Information Bulletins (MSIB).

"Recent deaths of maritime pilots while embarking commercial vessels highlight the risks of operating in an
unforgiving maritime environment. To ensure the safety of all personnel boarding a vessel at sea, the Coast
Guard reminds vessel owners and operators of the requirements contained in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter V, Regulation 23 and strongly recommends that owners and operators follow the recommendations within IMO Resolution A.1045(27) – Pilot Transfer Arrangements. "