Maritime Education #5: Pilotage Operations on General Cargo ship

Training video II on the correct behaviour in case of man overboard

How to get information for wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current? - this will be described in this movie:
- Measure Drift speed, due to beam wind with no propulsion;
- Measure drift speed using full thrusters
- Estimate wind & current limits to be potentially encountered by thrusters – or current...
- Finally there is a simple formula as Rule of Thumb: the transverse drift speed is about 7-8% of wind speed!

In this movie the efficiency of two different pod operation strategies is compared: With azimuth propeller ships the Pods can be used in two ways to control the speed, e.g. for speed reduction: 1. by adjusting the engine orders, e.g. by reducing the RPMs to get lower speed - this means to drive the ship in the same conventional way as for twin screw vessels, 2. by turning both pods either in- or outward (TOE-IN or TOE-OUT) to reduce the forward thrust and therefore reducing the speed – the...

This video explores the question of why ships are so difficult to manoeuvre in reverse.

London Pilots (PLA) have issued an excellent quick reference guide for Pilot Transfer arrangements, which can be used for pilots as well as ship’s crews. Please take not of this document and if you can, try to incorporate it into your procedures.

The St. Andrew’s Bay Pilots are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Captain Phillip Brady, age 46, on January 12, 2026.

Editors Note:
Safety is different
One comment on YouTube on this video:
"No hard hats, no Hi-Viz clothing (in case pilot falls in) the one at 5:16 has not even got a life jacket - absolute cowboys!"

Join me as we transit through the Panama Canal from the North-East side to the South-West. An interesting vlog on how an XDF LNG carrier transits through the newly expanded Panama Canal.Find out its history and which vessel and Captain transited the Canal on its opening day on the 15th of August 1914.The interaction with the Pilot Captain Arnulfo Cepetno who assist me on transit the Cocoli locks.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) once again demonstrates its commitment to seafarer safety by being the first registry to instigate a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) for pilot transfer arrangements. It will continue to run until the end of 2021.

Today is the beginning of IMPA´s 2020 Safety Campaign survey, and we would like to encourage you all to participate!

To submit a report click here: https://survey.impahq.org