Marine Pilot

The National Transportation Board said Thursday that a Mississippi River towing vessel’s pilot and its captain pushed its tow up against a riverbank too close to a railroad track, leading to a collision and train derailment near Galland, Iowa.

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.

A bulk carrier was departing port with a pilot on the bridge to assist with the undocking and manoeuvre downriver. The operation was also assisted by two conventionally propelled tugs, one forward and one aft.

The British Tugowners Association are pleased to release to industry is latest guidance release, Recovery of Persons in Water (PIW) Guide to Good Practice for Small Vessels.

Continuing with the pilot-boarding series, here it is another day in paradise: Doing my normal routine, climbing towards the bridge, in order to start Master-Pilot Information Exchange for a safer berth operation
If you want to see the second part of this ship (From Vessel's Bridge to Pilot boat), go to https://youtu.be/jNvb6gXRHRc

The pilot plays a crucial role in the safe navigation of the vessel to her destination. Expert in the local waters, a Pilot is imperative to the Bridge Team. Berthing/un-berthing, anchoring, transiting narrow channels etc. are very specialized operations and require expertise of a very objective manner that results in efficient planning, monitoring and execution of safe passage. When a ship needs to enter or leave a harbor, marine pilots are sent aboard via a small pilot boat to safely...

The All India Maritime Pilots' Association has released its new journal for October

The Norwegian Coastal Administration's digital route service routeinfo.no provides over 600 digital sailing routes for navigation to all major ports in Norway. The service will support the navigators' route planning, and contribute to safer voyages.
A special thanks to Norwest Ship Management and Solstad Offshore for their contribution in this film.
©Kystverket/Appex

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.