Smart Ports: Piers of the Future

For the first time, the ports of Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Montreal and Rotterdam come together to showcase their most advanced digital transformation and sustainability projects at their dedicated ‘Smart Ports’ exhibit

The smart fairway digitalization pilot is a part of the EMMA Extension project that is funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. This summer, 34 smart buoys were installed in the Saimaa deep fairway, which is Finland’s most important inland waterway for merchant shipping.
Safety is enhanced in particular by the fact that the pilots and VTS can adjust the light output of beacons and the rhythm of lights to support the navigation of vessels in poor visibility and weather conditions....

My personal impression is that a lot has changed in terms of safety in the last two years. Non-compliance with current legislation that directly affects the safety of pilots is now no longer tolerated by many stakeholders. Something is happening. And that is a good thing.

Australasian Marine Pilots Institute or AMPI held its first ever regional conference outside of Australia in Port Moresby.
The conference opened on Monday night and it continued today and tomorrow with discussions on regulation, pilotage in PNG, training, towage, transfers and technology.

The All India Maritime Pilots' Association has released its new journal for October.

The PLA welcomes Sathar Sulaiman and James Kitney as they join as Trainee Marine Pilots.

Luke Sorensen began his career as a Marine Pilot in 2011. Now the Manager of Pilotage Services, North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP), he mentors Pilots moving through the NQBP Training Framework to become competent and confident in bringing ships into berth at our ports. Luke explains the process of mentoring.

Drone visuals of a bridge passage of a remotely controlled barge on the Plassendale Canal (Ostend). The vessel is controlled by a captain in the Seafar Control Center in Antwerp (100km away). All operations are approved by the Flemish Waterway Authorities. Want to know more? www.seafar.eu info@seafar.eu

Watching Bar Pilots navigate the Columbia River in Astoria, OR and learning some history about the old pilot boat “Peacock”. Beautiful sunny day on the river with Sea lions, Gulls, ducks and more. Learn why it’s absolutely necessary for the bar pilots to help the ships get through one of the most treacherous parts of the Columbia.

Here's a nice little video of sea trials during the recent unseasonal storm we had last month, which produced some pretty rough conditions at the entrance to Cork Harbour. We managed to capture some nice footage of the Barracuda and Thunder Child II on the day.