8 Hours in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Tuesday, October 1st is the start date of the latest International Maritime Pilot Association's annual Safety Campaign.

Previous campaigns by the association have consistently shown results of pilot ladder deficiencies around the 20% mark.

An authentic report by Marine Pilot Capt. Agha Umar Habib (Port of Sohar, Oman) about a dramatic incident on July 23, 2019.

Video by marine pilot ESIL ABIBULA.

In Singapore, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots met the high standard certification criteria set by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and have been awarded with the Straits Pilot Certificate. Hence, only PSA Marine's Straits Pilots are certified to provide Voluntary Pilotage Services in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Only PSA Marine can provide a seamless transit to/from the rendezvous point and any destinations in Singapore.
Since 2001, PSA Marine has been providing...

When I was a deck officer back in the early nineties I worked on a ship that used to load grain at different ports along the Mississippi river. The name of the ship was Golden Hope, a 600 feet long dry bulk carrier with a 95 feet in beam. An average size vessel for those days' standards.

Hardest part of getting on board of a ship is climbing up on a maximum height of pilot ladder as 9m. Vessel on that video is a 27kdwt bulk carrier in ballast condition bound for İstanbul strait northbound passage.

Like threading a needle. Watch as the skilled captain of the Pacific Chinook comes alongside of her sister ship the Pacific Pathfinder to transfer some crew. Watch how precise he can maneuver the boat with her water jets.

NTSB issued an investigation report on the contact of tow William C with a Rock Island railroad bridge protection cell, on Des Plaines River, in January 2020. The investigation established that high speed prevented the pilot to correct the tow’s position after completing the transit through the previous bridge.

Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

Editors note: A film of a pilot boat has just been published on YouTube with the title "How Dangerous being in a Pilot Boat..." on YouTube. I'm not sure if this really shows a dangerous maneuver, maybe the experts can comment on it here.
But in principle it is problematic to approach the ship in such a small Pilot Boat in the wake from astern and cross the waves there. I remember an accident from Finland in December 2017 where the boat capsized and people died. Is this situation shown here...