Improper use of VHF leads to collision - Human errors contributing most to nav accidents today

The Master and pilot are dependant on each other for a safe and successful beginning or end of a voyage. They are both operating in a foreign environment.

An authentic report by Marine Pilot Capt. Agha Umar Habib (Port of Sohar, Oman) about a dramatic incident on July 23, 2019.

To minimize the risk of a vessel allision with a terminal gantry crane, the American Harbor and Docking Pilots Association recommends that all terminal operators with gantry cranes adopt the following Best Practices.

Article by Seyed Behbood Issa-Zadeh & Claudia Lizette Garay-Rondero

On April 20, 2026, the Columbia River Bar Pilots conducted a MOB drill with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Astoria.

Required tug power and number of tugs needed in variable conditions of wind, current and waves isin most cases an assessment made by pilots based on their professional experience. However, assessments will raise questions by lawyers if something goes wrong. They will use tools to calculate what really is needed with respect to tug power and number of tugs. They have furthermore the advantage of time.

When a vessel navigates in confined waters, such as in a harbour or narrow channel, it is well known among experienced pilots that the ship handling is greatly affected by the hydrodynamic forces and moments acting between ship and bank or sidewall of the channel.

by Rhys Davies, current Apprentice. Published already in Feb. 2020 by ABP.

A Sydney harbor pilot boat tries to get a pilot off the MS Amsterdam leaving Sydney on November 28, 2018. Due to the rough weather the pilot boat needed several attempts before the pilot was able to disembark the MS Amsterdam safely.
A Sydney harbor pilot boat tries to get a pilot off the MS Amsterdam leaving Sydney on November 28, 2018. Due to the rough weather the pilot boat needed several attempts before the pilot was able to disembark the MS Amsterdam safely.

The San Francisco Bar Pilots are one of the important cogs in our supply chain wheel. They are tasked with boarding the vessels eleven miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge via a rope ladder often in rough seas and taking control of the vessels en route to the Port of Stockton. Once on the bridge of the ship, the Pilot oversees navigation and ensures the safe passage of ships into the Bay and through the Delta until it is secured alongside its berth at the Port. Without these Pilots the...