1969 Pilot Boat in Italy

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

Let us start a journey back in time. Back to the black and white films of history. The times have changed, but it is good to know what kind of things have changed and where are the roots of pilotage.

Time Lapse Video: An inbound LNG carrier arrives at the Port of Rotterdam. At sea, in the Eurogeul channel, two maritime pilots have joined the vessel. Between the breakwaters four harbour tugs (Smit Harbour Towage) make fast to assist her manoeuvre. In the Beerkanaal channel the LNG carrier is stopped and swung before entering the Nijlhaven harbour. While approaching LNG Jetty 1 the ship's mooring lines are taken ashore by mooringboats (Koninklijke Roeiers Vereeniging Eendracht).
Pilot...

Pilot Boat build by Abeking & Rasmussen, Germany.

AST has announced a new order of 9 iRAMS systems with a long-term client and UK boat-builder, Goodchild Marine Services Limited.

This movie is an introduction and explains the dynamic and typical motion elements when steering the ship moving ahead or astern. The effect of the position of applied control forces seen in the direction of motion is demonstrated

Article originally published in SWZ|Maritime September 2022

Through the years, the Dutch Pilots have developed a system of selection, initial education and continual professional training. What is the current state of affairs?

It remains a sad fact that accidents and near misses continue to occur during pilot transfers with frightening regularity. Most of these fortunately do not result in injury, and a surprisingly high number of them are not even recognised for what they are.

Surveys into pilot ladder safety consistently reveal that unacceptably high numbers of pilot transfer arrangements are not compliant with the regulations.

Christening of new pilot tender "Mira" - a lightweight powerhouse Press Release Hoek van Holland, 2 April 2020 by Next Generation Shipyards On Thursday 2 April, Annebel de Deugd (interim manager fleet management of Nederlands Loodswezen), christened the new Dutch pilots’ tender Mira; one of the lightest tenders in the Nederlands Loodswezen fleet. Lighter than ever The instructions given by Nederlands Loodswezen to ship designer Camarc and shipbuilder Next Generation Shipyards had been clear:...