In our new new section “Five questions for ..." Marine-Pilots.com introduces pilots and other market players to our readers in short interviews.

Today we have talked to Olli Taipale, Chief Pilot at Finnpilot.

Ahmed is an ideas man. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he came up with a way to protect pilots from infection by driving incoming ships remotely, allowing his team to virtually board foreign ships rather than encounter new people in person, which would have put his colleagues at risk.

A video of a fellow captain at my work giving me my very first ride in the companies jet pilot boat. Im impressed.

The Port Pilot, by Richard Blanco. In _Looking for The Gulf Motel_, 2012, University of Pittsburgh Press.

Text and photos by Tonci Regjo
Pilot for the Split Harbour

It turns out that supertankers and cruise ships have valets. They're called maritime pilots, and they're among the most elite ship handlers in the world. So where does one go to learn how to park the largest ships in the world? To the Maritime Pilots Institute in Covington, La. There, they use mini-versions of the behemoth boats to teach the basics. All aboard!

An accident occurred in the Kiel Canal lock at Kiel-Holtenau. A freighter crashed into the gate of the north chamber on Saturday. The Kiel Canal is the busiest man-made waterway in the world.

Safehaven Marine have just launched an Interceptor 48 pilot ‘Ederra 7’for the MVD Pilots Association, Montevideo, Uruguay. Here’s a nice video with some fabulous drone footage of her undergoing rough weather sea trials ensuring she’s well up to the task of an ‘All weather pilot boat’.

It all started with the idea and vision of a large community of Marine Pilots, bringing people and organisations together. A web portal that gathers all the information for the pilot industry, makes all the stakeholders visible and gives the world's pilots an opportunity to exchange ideas among themselves.