Marine Pilot

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.

June 21, 2021

Back in August 2022, we received an offer to accompany the Port Colborne Pilot boat to make a video about the process of putting Pilots on board ships sailing on the Great Lakes. Port Colborne is the upbound terminus of the Welland Canal, and opens onto Lake Erie.

Bermuda’s Department of Marine and Port Services has returned to Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp., for a new Chesapeake-class pilot boat. The launch will be built to Lloyd’s Register class, with delivery scheduled for early 2023. The Somerset, Mass., shipyard built a 61-foot pilot/rescue vessel for the port service in 2011.

Inbound San Juan harbor new pilot boat build by Safehaven marine

The Varna Pilot Station in Bulgaria has chosen Seably, the global online marketplace for bespoke maritime learning, to become the first pilot station to use the digital platform for its training.

Pilot boat picking up two pilot crewmen from odyssey of the seas cruise ship port of civitavecchia Italy 🇮🇹

Manoeuvring large ships at close quarters and on shallow water is one of the most difficult aspects of shiphandling because of the complex hydraulic interactions depending on the ships' speeds, on the water depth and on lateral restrictions like in canals. Training is conducted both on meeting and on overtaking ships in shallow waters. This video shows how overtaking in a canal can easily fail.
More information: http://www.portrevel.com/3781-shiphan...