Incident on 31 January 2020 : A rope of the pilot ladder breaks. Pilot could still reach the vessel

This article was originally published on Baird Maritime (link below)
When a pilot is berthing a ship with the aid of tugs, it sometimes happens that the ship lands heavily and suffers minor damage. More commonly in my experience, it also happens that the crew discover a large dent for which they cannot account ...

The German Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) published its interim accident report on the containership MUMBAI MAERSK, which ran aground while entering the Weser fairway, on 2 February 2022.

The Finnish special vessel "Meri" collided with Holtenau High Bridge (Holtenauer Hochbrücke) over the Kiel Canal early on 30 Nov 2022 morning at around 4.37 am.

According to various reports, the motor vessel "Else" damaged the gate of the Kiel-Holtenau lock at 5:00 a.m. on 29 August when it entered the closed gate without a pilot.

Apparently there were two crew members on board, but no pilot. One of crew was recovered and declared dead, another one, skipper of the boat, is missing.

An innovative technique to board a sailing ship without any loss of time.

Meanwhile, female pilots are more and more common.

Boluda Towage started towing services at the German port of Lubmin for the first installation of a floating LNG storage plant.

The new emblem expresses the solidarity, commitment and reliability of all pilots in the Netherlands. It also serves to strengthen the mutual bond of the pilots who together form the Dutch Pilotage Association.

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”