Maritime Education #5: Pilotage Operations on General Cargo ship

When publishing articles or pictures about pilots and their pilot ladders, very often we see the use of backpacks. The use of backpacks is controversial, since its weight, or buoyancy, can influence the functioning of the lifejacket used.

This video is an extract of some elements from lectures by Knud Benedict on "Simulation" as part of the seminars provided by the IALA World Wide Academy on the use of the "IALA Toolbox for Port & Waterway Risk Management".

The video was found on some social media channels in June 2020. When so many elementary mistakes are made and so many risks are taken, this is exactly what can happen! It's a demonstrative example of an unprofessional action: 1) Where is the life jacket? 2) No backpack on the shoulders. Use a rope to have the backpack lifted by the deck crew. 3) Where is the rest of the crew (on vessel / on the small boat) for safe assistance? What other mistakes have you discovered? We do not put videos...

On April 20, 2026, the Columbia River Bar Pilots conducted a MOB drill with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Astoria.

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.

Marine Pilot leaving our ship during night in valencia port harbour.

On Wednesday, January 24, 2018, the #PortAuthorityJa hosted a Naming & Commissioning Service for #Kingston1 and #Kingston2, two new pilot boats for the service of Jamaica. The new boats replace older, undersized and malfunctioning ones, and is part of ongoing meaningful improvements to maritime operations at at our ports island-wide! Here are highlights, courtesy of #WeirzWorldMedia!

On February 9th, 2023 Unites States Coast guard issued a safety alert (04-22-CH1) in which attention is drawn to the correct positioning of handhold stanchions onboard of ships.

Since October, pilots from Kiel have been unable to use their offshore transfer station. Long detours and limited rest periods have complicated their workdays, with no end in sight.