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

Over the course of 4 days this August, I was afforded the opportunity and privilege of riding with the Savannah Bar Pilots for an article I was writing for a major maritime magazine. The pilots are given the responsibility of boarding a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean and safely navigating the vessel up the Tybee Road 9 (a name for the shipping lane that leads into the Savannah River), into the Savannah River, and into the Port of Savannah. The same is done in reverse when a ship is outbound...

Day two at the offshore Pilot station out of San Francisco. https://instagram.com/sea_weathered?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Most pilot embarkations and disembarkations around the world, are still carried out using a traditional pilot ladder, consisting of wooden steps supported and secured by side ropes.

On December 1st 2019 Dublin Port received a delivery of a new Pilot Boat - DPC Tolka.
This 1,195 horsepower 17.1m Orc vessel with a 5.3m Beam & Range 150 can reach greater distances and will allow Dublin Port’s highly skilled marine pilots to board larger ships in all weathers.
DPC Tolka has allowed Dublin Port to upgrade equipment in line with customer investment in new ships and additional capacity on existing routes.
Designed by French Naval Architect Pantocarene for both fuel...

Meanwhile, female pilots are more and more common.

Time lapse video of the launching of our latest 16m Pilot Boat which now features a resiliently mounted superstructure which lowers noise levels and improves crew comfort.

Estonian boatbuilder Baltic Workboats has delivered a new pilot boat ordered by German vessel operator Flotte Hamburg, a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port Authority.

For the first time, a large vessel is to cross an ocean autonomously. The giant, developed by Hyundai, could usher in a new era of seafaringt: 300 metres long, 50 metres wide, with space for 180,000 cubic metres of liquid gas.

A harbor pilot has the difficult job of bringing ships into port. A candidate for Albay Yacht Club has invited me to document the process. I went with Jud, the harbor pilot.