Pilots board cruise ships in choppy waters. Fast pilot boats. Auckland & Malta

Spotted some Pilot Boats in the Port of Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne & Fremantle Australia (Port codes: Auckland:NZ AKL ; Melbourne:AU MEL ; Fremantle:AU FRE).

The Auckland District Court has fined the Ports of Auckland NZD424,000 (USD300,500) for exempting its pilot boats from speed limits in Waitemata Harbour after a swimmer was struck and killed (April 2017).

Malta Maritime Pilots

Columbia River Bar pilot transfer using helicopter from Articulated Tug and Barge Island Monarch / Island Trader, April 29, 2021 near Astoria, Oregon, USA.

Issues like the Covid 19 crisis and the moves towards increased autonomy appear to be driving a renewed interest in Shore Based Pilotage (SBP), nowadays often called Remote Pilotage.

Three pilot companies operate launches from Queenscliff. They take pilots to and from the shipping that comes through Port Phillip heads to the ports of Melbourne and Geelong.

#pilotage#change of pilot#approaching to port

Using two, 66TBP tugs to assist in berthing the 90,000 GT bulker “Jin Weng Feng”. The port is “Puerto Brisas” at La Guajira, Colombia. The vessel is turned to port just outside the berth limits due to limited room in the basin with enough depth. Then she’s backed in.

It's quite possibly the most isolated lighthouse in the world and is precariously perched on top of a rock pillar with the wild waves of the cold North Atlantic ocean raging below.