Timelapse: ship departs Newcastle Harbour, NSW

This what a normal work day looks like for a port pilot.
A 24 hour shift shown in 11 minutes.
Recorded in Santa Marta, Colombia.

A maritime pilot tells us about why he loves switching ships in midstream.

Among the few marine professions that purse a man's technical skills and value very high, maritime piloting perhaps is in a class of its own. In this career, the pilot is entrusted to maneuver vessels through some of the most challenging and congested waterways while ensuring seamless integration between shipboard operations and port infrastructure.

Awesome video by Herman Broers, "The Rotterdam Pilot".

Drydocking or undocking is always a difficult task, particularly with a “dead” vessel (no power/propulsion) and the wind blowing on the ship's side.

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.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 finds the New York Harbor Pilot Boat No. 1 overtaking the Circle Line Zephyr on a Hidden Harbor Cruise along the Kill van Kull.

When it came time to replace their 50-year-old station vessel New York, the Sandy Hook Pilots Association thought long and hard, weighing their options to determine the best possible solution.

Breaux’s Bay Craft, Loreauville, La., delivered the new 90’x23’x12’4″ aluminum pilot boat Spindletop to the Sabine Pilots on March 6. The Sabine Pilots, Port Arthur, Texas, serve the Texas ports of Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont. “This is the biggest pilot boat built in the U.S.,” said Roy Breaux, the shipyard’s owner. “There are bigger ones in other parts of the world, but this is the largest in the U.S.”