Does the growth of ships ever have limits? Perhaps less in shipbuilding than in the handling of the ships during piloting.

On August 28, the world's largest container ship completed its first crossing in the Suez Canal. Due to its huge size and this is the first voyage of the ship, it has received extra attention and special treatment from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

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...

Ramsgate RNLI crews were called in to help a pilot boat beached at Broadstairs last night (December 7).

Despite clear regulations and regular maintenance requirements, safety often falls by the wayside, as the current example of a bulk carrier vividly demonstrates.

Going down the accommodation ladder with neither lifevest nor safety line must have been based on similar, past, successful operations, which may have never been challenged on board. This ‘slippage’ in safety is a pernicious and common phenomenon.

Grounding container vessel Shahraz and MV Samudra Sakti in Singapore Strait May 10 2020
What happened?
MV "Shahraz" and MV "Samudra Sakti I" had run aground to the shallow Batu Berhanti in the Indonesian territorial waters within 6 minutes, which is surveyed with minimum water depths of 8.3 m in the northern part and up to 0.5 m in the southern part . It is located south of TSS Singapore Strait’s eastbound traffic lane.
A chain of events which must be described as extra ordinary rarity....

After crossing the Atlantic Ocean and entered in the Mediterranean sea it is time to call the pilots at Chioggia/Venice, Italy.

PSA Marine has awarded a contract to Lita Ocean to build 2 units of a new-generation, heavy-duty and high-speed pilot launch.