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 Bahamas has imposed a compulsory maritime pilot rule for all vessels, including cruise ships, at its ports since September 2025.

Video by Capt.Harold Janda

A loaded bulk carrier is a bit tricky to handle, do to all that mass: de require a lot of power in order to be stopped. This is why this maneuver are normally slower. Same applies to tankers.

10 years back in time: Port of London Authority Pilot Jon Stafford talks about his work and the challenges of guiding large ships safely into and out of the Port of London.

A ride along with a harbor pilot as he guided a cargo ship from Galveston Bay through the Houston Ship Channel into a port on Buffalo Bayou.

Campagne de prévention "LA SÉCURITÉ DES MARINS, TOUS ACTEURS, TOUS GAGNANTS". Témoignage de Thomas Levillain, pilote à la station de pilotage de la Seine au Havre.

From the author: "This is a special video about the transit through the infamous Panama canal. It took me quite some time to make this video. I tried to show as much as I could about the Panama canal and its pilotage waters."

A monster wave of 30m was measured at 03:00 am by the Marine Institute M6 buoy located 200nm West of Ireland.

South Australian port operator Flinders Ports (FP) has entered into an agreement to purchase three new pilot vessels over the next three years from Melbourne-based boatbuilder Hart Marine.