Spotted some Pilot Boats in the Port of Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne & Fremantle Australia (Port codes: Auckland:NZ AKL ; Melbourne:AU MEL ; Fremantle:AU FRE).
It’s my first voyage taking over solo watch as a navigating officer – from bridge commands to monitoring traffic and weather, every second counts. Once we arrive in Ningbo, it’s straight into cargo operations, intense mooring work, and pilotage.
Tug power has increased considerably over recent decades. Today, some ship handling tugs have a bollard pull of more than 100 tons. In addition, high tug power can be installed in ever smaller compact hulls.
Fathom Safety was established as a not for profit organisation dedicated to improving maritime pilot transfer safety. Here is a guide to pilot ladder rigging. We hope you like it!