Associated Branch Pilots

For 170 years, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have been navigating the world’s largest ships through some of North America’s most difficult waterways. These state and federally-licensed master mariners are highly-specialized ship captains who rely on navigational experience, ship-handling skills, and local knowledge to transport more than $1.2 billion in goods to and from 200 Bay Area ports, docks, and berths every day. This critical service protects more than 1,000 miles of fragile coastline...

The international pilots association Impa is sounding the alarm about unsafe pilot ladders. According to the pilots, a worldwide survey has shown that access to the ship via the pilot's ladder often does not comply with the regulations.

Some impressions from a sail on the Falmouth Pilot Cutter Pellew in October 2021. The Pellew was built by Luke Powell and his team in Truro at https://www.workingsail.co.uk/ between 2017 and 2020.
Trips on Pellew can be booked through Venturesail on their website https://venturesailholidays.com/voyage-finder

In this special episode of Beyond the Frame, we take a peek into the career of ship pilots as told through former Maryland pilot and artist Captain Brian Hope's work, Boarding a Liberty ship - 1947.

Great image video of the Italian pilots (Federazione Italiana Piloti dei Porti).

For 174 years, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have been safely navigating the world’s largest ships through some of North America’s most challenging waterways.

This video explores the question of why ships are so difficult to manoeuvre in reverse.

Barracuda comes to shepherd SS Shieldhall into Poole harbour on the 4th of September 2021. The day the biplane crashed in front of the Haven Hotel at Sandbanks.

At one point, the Captain on the Ship while being highly respected, also carried great responsibility and had the ultimate accountability for everything on board. But this respect, responsibility and accountability has not come overnight, or just when the Captain wears his four stripes.