Ship sailing from Liverpool Docks

As the sun comes up on the last day of 2021, the last shipping day for Brisbane Marine Pilots, our pilots out on the water serving the Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd, as they have done every day since 1st January 1989.

Pilots are expert ship handlers who possess detailed knowledge of local waterways. They are transported by high speed "Pilot Boat" or helicopter from shore to an inbound ship and from an outbound ship back ashore. Most ports have compulsory pilotage.

Ich bin zu Besuch beim Lotsbetriebsverein in Bremerhaven und unterhalte mich mit dem Ältermann Jan-Helge Jannsen über das Lotswesen in Deutschland. Wir fahren außerdem mit dem Lotsenboot raus und begleiten Lotsen und die Crew auf den Versetzern bei einem Einsatz.

Comment and photos by Reshma Nilofer Naha
India's first female Marine Pilot (Kalkata Port Trust)

The IMO has adopted groundbreaking amendments to SOLAS Regulation V/23, introducing mandatory performance standards for pilot transfer arrangements.

This operation was carried out as part of a study of the capability of vessels of 142 meters length to enter and leave the seaport of Vyborg in the daylight.

There are many things in both our everyday and professional lives which we take for granted and never question the origins of, an example of this might be the IMPA recommended ‘pilot mark or pilot line’, which is sometimes seen on the side of vessels indicating where a vessels freeboard exceeds 9 metres.

Tideman Boats, indestructible HDPE workboats