Pilot

Jeanerette, LA – November 14th, 2019: Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered two new pilot boats to New Orleans-based operator Belle Chasse Marine Transportation, LLC (BCMT).

MT DELTA PIONEER sailed from Europoort, in Port of Rotterdam to sea. On arrival at the pilot station the Pilot Station Vessel PROCYON was on station to pick up the pilot from this 250 m long vessel.

The massive container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal, halting traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways, is still stuck. The ship, called the Ever Given, became horizontally wedged in the waterway following heavy winds. Nearly 19,000 ships passed through the canal during 2020, for an average of 51.5 per day, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

In December 2020, Australian Pilot Captain Ritesh Bhamaria was expertly piloting oil tanker MT Godam through the Torres Strait in adverse weather conditions when he and the vessel crew sighted a distant hand waving for help in the rough sea.

The investment in the vessels to work on the busy waterways will see the arrival next year of the next generation of pilot boats built by Holyhead Marine.

From Dusk to Dawn SOHAR Port and Freezone
Pacific Warrior (ULOC)
LOA 360m. Draft 22.3 m. Displacement 430k

"A routine pilot task"

The AUTOPLAN (Automatic Navigation Assistance System for Planing and Semi-planing Crafts) project kick-off meeting was held on 10th September 2020 with the participation of the project partners and the consultants: Uzmar Shipyard (Project Coordinator-Turkey), Technical University of Berlin (Germany), Friendship Systems AG (Germany), OES-Offshore Engineering Solutions Inc. (Turkey), Mersin University (Consultant-Turkey), SVA Potsdam (Germany) and Piri Reis University (Consultant-Turkey).

She just finished school in Norway, and “a 19 year old rebel,” admits Captain Breivik about her younger self. She didn’t know what to do next, but Solgunn Hamme Breivik certainly never expected to make history.