Discover the final hours of packaging and preparations of the ESAIL satellite before it left Luxembourg. The ESAIL microsatellite for tracking ships at sea has completed its latest environmental and system performance tests and set off for Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. On 17 February the satellite left Luxembourg, where it was built by LuxSpace under an ESA Partnership Project with the Canadian operator exactEarth, sponsored by the Luxembourg Space Agency and other ESA member...

The debate is whether highly skilled pilots could have successfully overcome the recent Boeing 737 MAX computer deficiencies. Will this question eventually be relevant to harbor pilot skills?

Clint Winegar, Presiding Officer, Houston Pilots, discusses the organization in the round, explaining how the Houston operation remains one of three in the country that still utilizes station boat.

Primeiro teste da nova profundidade do canal de Vitória (ES). Os práticos Evandro Oliveira Daquino e Rafael Amorim Sobreira realizaram a manobra de saída de navio com 11 metros de calado. Ambos participaram do estudo prévio realizado no Tanque de Provas Numérico da USP. O prático Fabio Andrade Batista dos Santos também esteve presente na faina, sem ônus, como avaliador. Ele fez todos os registros da manobra, como a menor profundidade medida ao longo do canal etc.

The Maryland Pilots have guided ships to and from Baltimore since the 1700's. They have been chartered as an organization since 1852. This is an edited except from films about the Pilots shot between 1950-1965 for the Port that Built a City and State. The original films are in the archives of the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

At Safehaven Marine it was great to be able to launch a new pilot boat for the Port of San Ciprian in Spain after nearly 2 months of Lockdown. She was nearly finished at the start of the lockdown. It sure was nice to be on the water again, even with social distancing.
We wanted to do something nice to lift everyone's spirits during these challenging times around the World, so we did a fly past our home Port of Cobh in Thunder Child II (Safehaven’s Transatlantic record attempt vessel) in...

In 2020, the Swedish Maritime Administration, Sjöfartsverket commissioned three new pilot vessels to replace retired vessels in its Gothenburg, Marstrand, and Lysekil locations on the country’s west coast.

Article originally published in SWZ|Maritime September 2022

Through the years, the Dutch Pilots have developed a system of selection, initial education and continual professional training. What is the current state of affairs?

The pilot plays a crucial role in the safe navigation of the vessel to her destination. Expert in the local waters, a Pilot is imperative to the Bridge Team. Berthing/un-berthing, anchoring, transiting narrow channels etc. are very specialized operations and require expertise of a very objective manner that results in efficient planning, monitoring and execution of safe passage. When a ship needs to enter or leave a harbor, marine pilots are sent aboard via a small pilot boat to safely...

The busy Strait of Messina which separates the island of Sicily from the Italian mainland is now home to a new pilot boat, manufactured by Bellcraft and powered by Volvo Penta’s Inboard Performance System (IPS).