Impressions from the EMPA 2022 sponsor hall in Antwerp

Today the 56th EMPA General Meeting started in Antwerp.

After crossing the Atlantic Ocean and entered in the Mediterranean sea it is time to call the pilots at Chioggia/Venice, Italy.

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...

Ships have reported an increasing number of cases of significant GPS interference and jamming in recent months. The geographic areas with more than one reported incident include the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and multiple Chinese ports.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the maritime supply chain and called for accelerated adoption of digital technologies in various aspects of maritime operations, including the area of maritime education and training (MET).

Luke Sorensen began his career as a Marine Pilot in 2011. Now the Manager of Pilotage Services, North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP), he mentors Pilots moving through the NQBP Training Framework to become competent and confident in bringing ships into berth at our ports. Luke explains the process of mentoring.

In March the Slovenian Government has concluded a contract with the state-owned Kopp Izobraževanje company to provide maritime piloting services in the port of Koper as a public service. So far these services have been provided by private company Piloti Koper.

Consistently 99.9 per cent safe operation of large vessels: Marine pilots on Canada’s West Coast have an exceptional safety record in the world’s largest pilot-mandatory zone for large vessels including oil tankers.

Lyttelton Port Company Limited (LPC) are the operators of the largest Port in the South Island of New Zealand, have chosenPFMBlue´s GP16B to be installed.

The debate is whether highly skilled pilots could have successfully overcome the recent Boeing 737 MAX computer deficiencies. Will this question eventually be relevant to harbor pilot skills?