Opinion Bow Truster Effect on Ship's Headway
by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 14 July 2022
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.
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
Related content
Video Bow thruster effect on ship's headway 1
by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 14 July 2022
Video Hugues Cauvier: Understanding the ship's pivot point (complete video)
by Capt. Hugues Cauvier - published on 3 September 2024
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,...
Video Dynamic failure of pilot boats: Risk mitigation & management
published on 12 December 2020
Following a surf riding and broaching incident and subsequent collision by an experienced vessel operator, QinetiQ have been undertaking extensive investigations into the risk mitigation and safety management of pilotage operations. This presentation looks to discuss the risks presented during pilotage services, and provide a critical review of vessel design and service delivery approaches to understand the potential risk mitigations and management of pilot boat safety.
Opinion Pilot ladders: Compliance by design, failure by operator
by Herman Broers - published on 10 March 2022
Opinion How OpenBridge seeks to improve maritime workplaces
by Prof. Kjetil Nordby Institute of Design - The Oslo School of Architecture and Design - published on 6 May 2020
Lack of standard user interfaces across bridge equipment is a major concern for maritime safety. Pilots are in a unique position, as they are constantly exposed to new and differing bridge working environments, equipment, interface designs and combinations of systems. As pilots face this problem throughout every shift they need to put in considerable effort to adjust their work to the many user interfaces they meet.