Marine Pilot

Port authorities in Antwerp, Belgium, are making use of EMSA’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) to support their day-to-day monitoring of port operations and rapid response to pollution incidents in the port area. The RPAS will enable the authorities to inspect at a distance their complex port environment which extends over an area of some 120km².

In this episode of Mighty Jobs we meet the piloting crew of Buksér og Berging in Tromsø, Norway. Their Volvo Penta-powered piloting boat covers around 42,000 nautical miles every year. That’s the equivalent of traveling around the world twice. The Volvo Penta IPS system makes it possible to pilot ships under all weather conditions.

On February 23rd, 2024 the NISSOS KEROS ( 330 m long x 60 m wide x 17m draft ) was inbound to Europoort, dolphins 90. Pilot was hoisted onboard by Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen (NHV) helicopter flying out of the Nederlands Loodswezen Rotterdam Pilots base. Assisted by 4 tugs from both Boluda and Muller, as well as KRVE boatmen, she eventually moored successfully in stormy weather on Maasvlakte-2 in Port of Rotterdam. Thanks to the very professional crew on the NISSOS KEROS, it was a very...

Based in Estonia, Baltic Workboats is a long-tenured boatbuilder for multiple markets, including the demanding pilot boat sector. Late in 2025 in New Orleans BWB debuted a new hybrid electric 17m model, a boat that leans on more than 15 years of accrued experience building larger hybrid electric vessels. Carl Mahler, BWB’s North American sales lead and a harbor pilot himself, discussed with Maritime Reporter TV the value proposition offered by the shipyard, from manufacturing process to...

Editors note: A film of a pilot boat has just been published on YouTube with the title "How Dangerous being in a Pilot Boat..." on YouTube. I'm not sure if this really shows a dangerous maneuver, maybe the experts can comment on it here.
But in principle it is problematic to approach the ship in such a small Pilot Boat in the wake from astern and cross the waves there. I remember an accident from Finland in December 2017 where the boat capsized and people died. Is this situation shown here...

The PDF of the second issue is available for download here

Who is a pilot and how do I find information about this great job on the Internet?

Port Phillip Sea Pilots now have their new website online. The result is impressive. Well done!