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 Improper use of VHF leads to collision - Human errors contributing most to nav accidents today

published on 11 July 2020

Maritime Training Videos series by Dhhunki Productions. Contact us for production of Maritime training & safety videos,Training Shoots & Films,Incident Analysis,Case Study Videos Corporate & Ad Films,Intro-Seminar-Conference Shoots,Documentary & Short films,Music Videos www.dhhunkiproductions.com E-mail:dhhunkiproductions@gmail.com

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Video What Happened To The Napoli?

published on 22 October 2021

In this video, you can take a look at what happened when the Napoli broke her back and was run aground on the south coast of the UK.

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Video EfficientFlow final conference June 4 2021

published on 10 June 2021

Project results in detail. Efficient port flow using the Port Activity App in the ports of Gävle and Rauma. Sharing time stamps making planning easier for all involved actors. Efficient ship Flow by using a Route distribution service helping pilots better plan meeting points in narrow fairways, saving some fuel but more importantly increasing safety.

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Video iTalk by Ms Reshma Nilofer, Sector Pilotage Services

published on 25 August 2020

iTalk conducted by IME(I) Mumbai Branch. The speaker was Ms Reshma Nilofer, Sector Pilotage Services

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Video 20m Pilot Boat "Raan" from Belgium

published on 10 October 2025

Following a pilot at fast speed

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Opinion Pilot ladders: Compliance by design, failure by operator

by Herman Broers - published on 10 March 2022

It is not often that this blog is used to show bad practice, however in this case some pictures tell a whole story. Ship is compliant by design for rigging a combination. How about the operator(s)?

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