Columbia River Bar Pilot via Helicopter

River Mersey Pilot Boat going slowly inbound on the river before turning and heading northbound again.

KITTIWAKE ( MMSI 232008570) is a Pilot and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom (UK) Here she is speeding down the River this morning.

Vessel name: Polaris ; Year built: 2012 ; Flag: Netherlands ; Homeport: Rotterdam Length: 81.2m X 13.3m ; GRT: 2501 ; Callsign: PBZN ; MMSI:245142000 ; IMO: 9496915 Type: Special Vessel / Pilot Ship A "Pilot Ship / Pilot Vessel" is a "special type" of ship in which it accommodates a certain and limited Marine Pilots (Sea, River, Harbor Pilots), it also carries small boats/crafts that are used to tender services to and from the Pilot ship. In a Pilot Vessel, the Pilots can take their time...

On November the 8th 2020 container feeder vessel Munksund collided with the RoRo cargo vessel Balticborg. The collision occurred, most likely caused by banking conditions, in the eastern section of the Kiel Canal near km 96. This is a combined 2D/3D representation of the collision created with MSG Prospector, MSG Plotter and Google Earth.

Pilot boat Explorer approaches 2GO Maligaya as the harbor pilot then boards the vessel during a Monday morning arrival to Cebu from Manila
See my photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/dareleven/

Time Lapse Video of a Ship Entering Harbor

Pilots are expert ship handlers who possess detailed knowledge of local waterways. They are transported by high speed "Pilot Boat" or helicopter from shore to an inbound ship and from an outbound ship back ashore. Most ports have compulsory pilotage.

A valuable campaign managed by Chris Young, Kevin Vallance and others, which we found on Facebook .

In this charterparty dispute, the arbitral tribunal rejected the Owners’ claim for damages for breach of the safe port warranty in a time charterparty, after a laden bulk carrier grounded at the entrance to the port of Chaozhou, China, while under compulsory pilotage. It also held that the vessel was unseaworthy, in breach of Article III.1 of the Hague Rules, due to lack of proper charts, but found on the facts that this was not causative of the grounding.