Opinion Bow Truster Effect on Ship's Headway

by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 14 July 2022

When the bow thruster has been in operation for a while, pilots often notice that the ship not only turns but also gains speed. But why is this? Opinion by Capt. Hugues Cauvier.

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Opinion A Corrected Version on Positioning of Pivot Point

by Capt. Santosha K. Nayak - published on 18 November 2020

Understanding the fundamentals of the pivot point is highly required for understanding the alteration of the courses. Pivot point is an imaginary point on the vessel which turns on a circular path on the perimeter of vessel’s turning circle when the vessel makes a turn. The knowledge about the position of the pivot point in a manoeuvring situation provides the ship handler with the information on the geometry of motion of the ship.

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Opinion Scientific Fact: The ‘traditional’ understanding of the ship’s pivot point is wrong!

by Tim Cummins, Harbour Pilot, Portsmouth International Port - published on 9 July 2020

In fact, the pivot point that we “see” is a trick of the eye, it looks like the ship is rotating about this point but in fact it is elsewhere, a point that you cannot see.

Related content

Video Bow thruster effect on ship's headway 1

by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 14 July 2022

What is causing the forward motion of a stopped vessel using continous bow thruster action?
by Capt. H. Cauvier

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Video Hugues Cauvier: Understanding the ship's pivot point (complete video)

by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 3 September 2024

This video has been recut and edited by the creator Hugues Cauvier. Previously there were three episodes, which have now been combined into one.

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Video How to Launch a Pilot Boat–Behind the Scenes at Point Hope Shipyard

published on 20 June 2025

Welcome to Point Hope Shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In this video, I follow the float off of the Pacific Navigator, a hardworking pilot boat that serves the Port of Victoria and Ogden Point. We watch as the vessel is pulled along the marine railway, rotated on the turntable, and positioned onto the cradle. Once secured, the cradle lowers to float-off depth, and the Pacific Navigator fires up her engines for a short harbour spin before returning to duty. Some segments,...

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Video Geneviève Béchard | The Digital Transformation of Canadian Hydrographic Offices

published on 25 November 2021

Full title: "The Digital Transformation of Canadian Hydrographic Offices, and the Corresponding Contributions to Seabed 2030 and Lakebed 2030"
Presented at the Lakebed 2030 Conference in 2021
Get involved at Lakebed2030.org

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Opinion 1000 stanchions around… Which ones are correct and which ones are killers?

by Arie Palmers - published on 6 December 2022

Stanchions therefore are an often-overlooked part of a pilot transfer arrangement and therefore I
want to give them more attention in this article. They proved to be the cause of a whole series of accidents, some of which were even fatal.

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Article Book launch: “Marine Pilotage – The Arabic book”

published on 22 May 2021

“Marine Pilotage – The Arabic book" by Ahmed Sati, Marine Pilot at P&O Maritime, is the first of its kind in Arabic language and specifically concerned with maritime pilotage, it is a reference book and introduction to the basics of the Marine Pilot's work for Arabic readers who are willing to take the challenge and join the force of Pilotage and to act as a refresher to the experienced Pilots who are practicing Pilotage in local or foreign organizations.

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Article Board of commissioners of Pilots of the State of New York

published on 22 December 2021

At the 27 October 2020 meeting, the Board reviewed the SHPA grant request for a pilot ladder climbing training program.

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Video Wind Balance on straight track with theory

published on 24 November 2020

Wind Balance on straight track - using SAMMON to learn the theory and the effect of rudder and drift to reach the balance in steady state equilibrium conditions on straight track. Limits of steerability will be shown and how turn under strong wind.

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Video NOK-Kanalsteurer Dieter Morhardt über seinen Beruf

published on 28 July 2021

Dieter Morhardt ist Kanalsteurer auf dem Nord-Ostsee-Kanal. Was den Beruf ausmacht erzählt er im Video.
Eine umfangreiche Reportage zu den Kanalsteurern gibt es hier:
https://www.shz.de/regionales/kiel/kanalsteurer-auf-dem-nord-ostsee-kanal-ein-in-deutschland-einmaliger-beruf-id19542646.html

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Article Accident in the lock Kiel-Holtenau from Saturday: The official investigations begin

by Marine-Pilots.com - published on 31 August 2020

The vessel "ELSE" didn't stopped at the pilot station and tried to enter the closed lock without a pilot.
Following the crash on 29.08.2020, the official investigations into the accident are now beginning on site.

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