SWATH Technology by Abeking & Rasmussen

Challenge between SWATH tender "DÖSE" and two 30m mono hull vessels in 2013.

Editors note:
Pilot Boat "Döse" built by A&R

At the A&R shipyard in Germany, the successful principle of SWATH boats was further developed in 2013: The SWASH principle allows sea-going, smaller and more economical boats.

A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.

This video is filmed in 2015, edited 2021.
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. They are navigational experts possessing knowledge of the particular waterway such as its depth, currents, and hazards, as well as being experts in handling ships of all types and size. A Maritime pilot is an expert ship handler who is licensed or authorised...

Alabama’s Mobile Bar Pilots has awarded Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding of Somerset, Massachusetts, a contract for a new 53-foot (16-metre) pilot boat.

The plug-in diesel hybrid pilot boat's hull is be based on the established ‘ORC’ design, a unique ‘beak’ bow design, which gives it unmatched all weather capability and typically uses 40% less diesel per nautical mile than convention hulls.

A trip down the river Haven today to catch the boys in the pilot boat and Eems Sprinter come up river to dock at Boston.

Shipbuilder Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation, said it has delivered by road transport a new pilot boat to the Lake Pilots in Port Huron, Mich. The Resilient Class high-speed launch Huron Pride is the pilots’ third boat built by the Somerset-Mass. shipyard since 1979.

This expert article is based on a presentation given by Capt. Pilot Sven Stemmler at the MCN's (Maritimes Cluster Norddeutschland e. V. ) event ‘On the Future of the Pilot Profession’ at Fraunhofer CML in Hamburg on 9 September 2025.