Permanent Part Time Master - Marine Pilot Transfer Vessel (Mackay/Australia)

Tug power has increased considerably over recent decades. Today, some ship handling tugs have a bollard pull of more than 100 tons. In addition, high tug power can be installed in ever smaller compact hulls.

Kewatec builds the twelfth pilot boat and the ninth Pilot 1820 boat for Buksér og Berging in Norway. The boat is of the same series as the previous Pilot 1820 boats that have been delivered during the last five years. The boats have a total length of 18.2 meters and are the flagships of Kewatec's pilot boat range.

This documentary made in 1959 in the popular Look at Life series is from Volume 5 - Cultural History and takes a journey along the River Thames passing several famous buildings and monuments such as - County Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Shell Mex House which has the biggest clock face in London. Cleopatra's Needle, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Port of London Authority, Prospect of London Pub, Port of London Docks.

10 Jan 2023
New York Maneuver

When falling from the ladder onto the deck of the Pilot Boat, the well-known Indian pilot obviously suffered some injuries.

Pilots are expert ship handlers who possess detailed knowledge of local waterways. They are transported by high speed "Pilot Boat" or helicopter from shore to an inbound ship and from an outbound ship back ashore. Most ports have compulsory pilotage.

A bridge team’s lack of effective monitoring of their position while at anchor led to a cargo ship hitting an anchored bulk carrier and striking a chemical dock on the Lower Mississippi River near New Orleans, according to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) marine accident brief.

"Rope Ladders" by PTR Holland

IMO 9291676. Build in 2003.

Article and pictures by Captain W J M Hargreaves, Retired Southampton Pilot