First women boat pilot for Mozambique

Recently, Svitzer took an important step towards strengthening its presence in Africa by signing a five-year contract with Nacala Logistics in Mozambique for harbour towage, occasional pilot transfer and potential salvage work in the port of Nacala. At the same time, Svitzer also secured a five-year extension of its current contract with Egyptian LNG assisting the land-based Idku LNG plant with four tugs, two mooring boats and one pilot boat.

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.

Two new locks were introduced in 2009 for training in the new Panama lock conditions with or without tug(s). This video shows the famous "piston effect" when entering the lock at an impressive speed of 10 knots with a high blockage factor.
Port Revel provides shiphandling training using manned models for maritime pilots, masters and officers: http://www.portrevel.com

Captain Bronson Stubbs discusses what harbor pilots do

Who knows the S-100 / S-102 electronic card standard? An introduction by the Maritime Simulation and Resource Centre, Canada

In this movie the efficiency of two different pod operation strategies is compared: With azimuth propeller ships the Pods can be used in two ways to control the speed, e.g. for speed reduction: 1. by adjusting the engine orders, e.g. by reducing the RPMs to get lower speed - this means to drive the ship in the same conventional way as for twin screw vessels, 2. by turning both pods either in- or outward (TOE-IN or TOE-OUT) to reduce the forward thrust and therefore reducing the speed – the...

Following in a long line of ever more refined and very seaworthy vessels, this small example of a Safehaven pilot boat has been chosen for operations on and around Scotland’s Cromarty Firth.

A pilot boat entering the port of Miami.

"We want Ports Authorities to Prioritise the Safety of Maritime Pilots"

In this interview, the President of the African Maritime Pilots Association (AMPA), Captain Mohamed Rafouk who is based in Morocco speaks on how maritime pilots in Africa have coped since the outbreak. He also talks of their interactions with Port Authorities and what their expectations are.

A patrol boat of the Navy of Venezuela sank in international waters after apparently shooting and ramming a German cruise ship. Allegedly the "Resolute" was to be diverted off course.