Introduction to Pilotage

Who pays when a pilot is injured on a ladder that should never have been rigged?
An opinion piece by Arie Palmers, maritime pilot, the Netherlands

Understanding the fundamentals of the pivot point is highly required for understanding the alteration of the courses. Pivot point is an imaginary point on the vessel which turns on a circular path on the perimeter of vessel’s turning circle when the vessel makes a turn. The knowledge about the position of the pivot point in a manoeuvring situation provides the ship handler with the information on the geometry of motion of the ship.

This movie belongs to the operation of ships with POD propellers and discusses the approach for using a vector model from only the pods’ thrust forces as resulting force to imagine the potential effect of the pods on manoeuvring motion.

Manoeuvring large ships at close quarters and on shallow water is one of the most difficult aspects of shiphandling because of the complex hydraulic interactions depending on the ships' speeds, on the water depth and on lateral restrictions like in canals. Training is conducted both on meeting and on overtaking ships in shallow waters. This video shows how overtaking in a canal should be conducted: come in close to the stern and then move away from the bow that will be sucked towards your...

Port Revel is a ship handling training center for pilots, captains and officers. Unique in its kind, it allows to acquire new skills, to improve on different manned models at scale 1 / 25th.

Open Waters Program Launch - Maritime Career Development Program
Louisiana River Pilots Association - Crescent River Port Pilots - New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association