Good old times: PLA Thames Pilots at Work

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

This documentary made in 1959 in the popular Look at Life series is from Volume 5 - Cultural History and takes a journey along the River Thames passing several famous buildings and monuments such as - County Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Shell Mex House which has the biggest clock face in London. Cleopatra's Needle, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Port of London Authority, Prospect of London Pub, Port of London Docks.

Location: England Various shots following a river pilot. He is seen disembarking from one boat and climbing up a rope ladder onto a large ship. Various shots of another river pilot, dressed in a cap, woollen jumper and sea faring jacket. He is seen at the wheel of his boat. Various shots of two river police pilots on the River Thames in London. They are filmed in the cab and on the deck of their boat. They pull up alongside some riverboat houses and talk to a woman who owns one of the them....

This book investigates the science behind each component of manoeuvring a ship in confined waters, especially in port limits and the art to master it. Based on practical observations and analysis of each major and minor aspect of the manoeuvring of different types of vessels in different types of situations, this book put all relevant knowledge together for the reference of all concerned with pilotage and ship handling.

Two decades ago, candidates were selected for TNPA's accelerated training programme in Rotterdam, which aimed to train a new generation of ship pilots, managers and other maritime professionals.

Harwich, Essex. Several shots of buoys at a warehouse on the quay. Various shots show the Trinity House Vessel 'Siren' setting out to sea to carry out maintenance on buoys; a naval flag showing the Union Jack and the Trinity House Jack is hoisted; officers are seen using sextants and plotting their course on a chart. Nice M/S of a sailor tying on a life jacket. Sailors drop anchor beside a buoy, hoist weather balloons and ring bells on the ship. The buoy is cleaned of mussels and limpets...

This article was first published back in February 2022: According to the International Group of P & I Clubs’ “Report on P&I claims involving vessels under pilotage 1999-2019”, over the last twenty years, there were 1,046 incidents in which pilot error either caused or contributed to those events.

There are some problems that never seem to go away and one is the perennial difficulties in providing a safe way of getting pilots on and off a ship.

LuxSpace CEO, Jochen Harms, on putting the ESAIL microsatellite into orbit.
ESAIL is part of ESA’s Partnership Projects and has been developed to enhance the next generation of space‐based services for the maritime sector. The spacecraft will track ship movements over the entire globe as it orbits the planet.

MALACCA STRAIT FROM EAST TO WEST ▶️ https://youtube.com/shorts/UXGMa5Qs4Zo?feature=share MY NORMAL DAYS AS SEAFARER "PACIFIC OCEAN" ▶️ https://youtu.be/kkdh5qv7Jhg Crew Change at Port of Elizabeth, South Africa ▶️ https://youtu.be/l2VtIJG5PuM SANTA BARBARA Popawis🤣🥵💦 ▶️ https://youtu.be/brur6izWHpw RICHARDS BAY, SOUTH AFRICA "APPROACHING" ▶️ https://youtu.be/3zEEmPZMAKc COCA COLA, FINLAND "UNANG TIMON AB - HELMSMAN" 😎🌊⛴🏗 ▶️ https://youtu.be/GmIL1d7ljyE UNEXPECTED ROLLING TWO...