Fédération Française des Pilotes Maritimes (FFPM)

APL Belgium in rough water near the Farallon Islands pilot station.

How do marine pilots work? Example: Bringing a bulkcarrier alongside to „Hansaport“ in Hamburg. Here the tugboats „Prompt“, „Resolute“ and „Bulldog“ are involved. The master has to rely on the pilot. One reason is, that he can‘t know how to deal with these tugs. A maneuver like this is only safe, when the pilot has a lot of practical experience. A master who is doing a maneuver like this only about once or twice a month and each time with tugs he doesn’t know in areas he hasn’t been to...

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

Using two, 66TBP tugs to assist in berthing the 90,000 GT bulker “Jin Weng Feng”. The port is “Puerto Brisas” at La Guajira, Colombia. The vessel is turned to port just outside the berth limits due to limited room in the basin with enough depth. Then she’s backed in.

On October 11, 2018, the Kristin Alexis was performing fleeting work with a crew of six, including a captain, pilot, and four deckhands (two per shift), at the Cooper Consolidated fleeting facility at Convent located at mile 161.5. About 2300, the Cooper Consolidated dispatcher informed the Kristin Alexis captain that their next job was to move the derrick-type crane barge Mr Ervin upriver to the Cooper Consolidated fleeting facility in Darrow, located at mile 175.

The average harbor pilot at the Port of Los Angeles makes $434,000 a year, but also faces a one in 20 chance of dying on the job, according to a book from The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims that was published in 2021.

Toutes les 40 minutes, un pilote du Saint-Laurent embarque à bord d'un navire de commerce qui transite entre Montréal et Québec. 230 pilotes sont chargés de guider les embarcations dans la voie maritime : une des plus dangereuses au monde. Un métier essentiel à l'économie du Québec, qui est payant, mais qui vient avec son lot de contraintes et de stress. Catherine François nous amène à bord d'un porte-conteneur qui sillonne le fleuve. Le reportage de Catherine François au #TJ18H -- Rendez-...

On the occasion of the Maritime Safety Week (July 4-10), UK MAIB’s inspector Bill Evans refers to the issue of unsafe pilot ladders, a concern that has been regularly voiced by the industry.

We were lucky to come across the Tom Crean whilst offshore putting some hours on the Interceptor 60 pilot P&O Sahm. Taking the opportunity to undertake some alongside handling trials, we captured some cool footage of Tom Crean pushing through the waves.