Northwest passage

The Northwest Passage is the approximately 5780 km long sea route that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean north of the American continent. It crosses the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas as well as the associated sea lanes through the Canadian-Arctic archipel ago.

Roald Amundsen made his first complete successfully crossing in 1903-1906 via the route discovered by John Rae through the James Ross Strait, Rae Strait and Simpson Strait on the small ship Gjøa.

In this episode of Mighty Jobs we meet the piloting crew of Buksér og Berging in Tromsø, Norway. Their Volvo Penta-powered piloting boat covers around 42,000 nautical miles every year. That’s the equivalent of traveling around the world twice. The Volvo Penta IPS system makes it possible to pilot ships under all weather conditions.

Look at Life Vol 01 Transport Pilot Aboard 1963
The story of Britain's pilotage services.

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.

1st 24,000 TEU vessel, 1st Containers loaded, 1st Port call Qingdao

Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on the important role of tugboats in navigating the bigger vessels in harbors and canal, as well as the open seas.

Based on MAIB Safety Digest 1/2025, Case 12, published April 2025 by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) received the 2022 SAFETY4SEA Initiative Award for conducting annually its ‘Pilot Ladder Safety Campaign’ with the objective of reporting pilots’ experiences of ladders and boarding equipment to the IMO and the wider shipping community. Other distinguished short-listed nominees of this category were: Inmarsat, International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), Safetytech Accelerator and Seafarers Hospital Society. We are honored to be...

On the night of January 1, 2019, MSC Zoe lost approximately 290 containers in heavy weather on the journey from Portugal to Bremerhaven. The loss of so many containers is an exceptional event and is the second largest known container loss of a ship due to heavy weather.

Shipbuilder Metal Shark is building a welded aluminum 55’ x 17’ pilot boat for the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association in Mississippi.

Designed in-house, the new 55 Defiant Pilot being built for Pascagoula Pilots represents the latest evolution in Metal Shark’s pilot boat lineup. The distinctive vessel incorporates the“faceted hull” design initially developed by Metal Shark for the US Navy 40 PB program, and features an enhanced version of Metal Shark’s signature “pillarless glass” in a two-tiered, reverse-raked arrangement.