(4K) Sea Bear Pilot Boat 14 April 2020

I decided to show the typical happenings when a saltwater freighter arrives Duluth. Most of the time they go to anchor and wait for the Elevator dock. The Pilot Boat brings out the Great Lakes Pilot to sail the ship into the port and to the dock. This vessel arrived early Sunday morning, went to anchor until mid afternoon. They are loading grain at the CHS Elevator in Superor.

The mouth of the Duluth Canal is a dangerous entrance in bad weather. Here the coast guard shows the agility of their boats. What a ride!

Live Stream for Duluthharborcam.com

In this one you will see a couple different times when the Pilot boards or leaves the ship and how they do it. It is always interesting to watch even though I have seen it many time. Hope you all enjoy the video and hope to see you in the comments as always.

SWATH and SWASH are interesting technologies that allow a vessel to sail much more calmly in high waves. A stable and calm position of the ship is especially important for pilot boarding.

Oct. 13, 2022
Harbor pilot departing the NCL Prima in rough seas.

Safehaven Marine based in Ireland have just delivered a pilot vessel for operations at the Port of Berbera in
Somaliland, Africa. ‘Sanaag’ is one of Safehaven’s Interceptor 38 pilot vessels, at 11.9m LOA, a very capable design which proves economical to operate, yet capable of dealing with very rough seas and challenging boarding conditions when required.

Maritime pilots work in an irregular deployment system (rotation system) with unpredictable work assignments under high levels of physical and mental stress. Fatigue or chronic diseases, e.g. coronary heart disease, peptic ulcers or gastritis can occur as a consequence.

This pilot course is the first of the capacity-building efforts of the three-year project on enhancing regional research, capacity building and convening of stakeholders towards a safer maritime domain in the Gulf of Guinea.