2 48° South 074° West
"Angostura Inglesa" is, without a doubt, the most important natural obstacle in navigating the South American channels, as it is a winding step that requires two changes of course close to 90 °, subject to a tidal regime and Considerable currents, which is also affected by the frequent bad times of the Gulf of Penas, forces sailors to face it with caution and take adequate security measures.
In the pre-dawn hours and many other times of the day, local pilots safely guide cruise ships and cargo ships into BVI ports. The pilots provide local knowledge to the ships' captains to ensure safe arrivals and departures. In order to do this, it requires the pilot to climb from one moving vessel to the other. While this maneuver is taking place, the pilot vessel must maintain speed and stay parallel to the ship, allowing the pilot's safe transfer from one vessel to the other. They make...
In the second of our series focusing on ‘Our people at ports’, we catch up with Pierre Chays, our Marine Safety Manager and Pilot who gives us a behind the scenes look at what our Harbours Team is doing during these difficult times in supporting the movement of essential freight services in and out of the Island. For him, it is very much ‘business as usual’ – and outside of his working hours he’s getting used to having another baby around the house.
