Interview with Charlie Sarafian, New Caledonian marine pilot

Footage showing the ARCADIA leaving Tilbury Landing Stage and PLA pilot boarding sugar ship bound for Thames Refinery. footage taken from the documentary short film ' Till I End My Song'

What does a Bristol Pilot do? This is a short film we made for Bristol Pilots LLP to show what it is these guys do - from climbing up the side of oil tankers in the middle of the night, to bringing in huge ships through a lock with inches to spare either side - the Bristol Pilots do an amazing job.

Let us start a journey back in time. Back to the black and white films of history. The times have changed, but it is good to know what kind of things have changed and where are the roots of pilotage.

Using two, 66TBP tugs to assist in berthing the 90,000 GT bulker “Jin Weng Feng”. The port is “Puerto Brisas” at La Guajira, Colombia. The vessel is turned to port just outside the berth limits due to limited room in the basin with enough depth. Then she’s backed in.

“Piloting the vessels was there since there was a sea transportation” This is one of the most popular and might be most proud phrase for pilots. During the maritime history, piloting the vessels evolved in many aspects, however main core is never changed; trustworthy colleague from neighbourhood will be close by for safe passage.

This video shows an introduction on the Spiral-Test-Manoeuvre and describes the procedure how to steer through this manoeuvre and measure the data needed. The results will be displayed in a characteristic diagram allowing to identify stable and unstable conditions and related, detailed information, e.g. spiral loop width and height, rudder angle of neutral effect. Samples of stable and unstable ship behaviour demonstrations will be shown by Fast Time Simulation using the SAMMON Planning tool.

By using Humphree's trim and stabilization system, you will reduce resistance, fuel consumption and environmental impact. It also means that the best possible performance and stability is achieved.

Humphree USA reports that it has won numerous orders this year for its automatic stabilization technology in the North American pilot boat segment, with nine new boats either delivered or under construction for eight different pilot associations.

The British Tugowners Association (BTA) in collaboration with the UK Chamber of Shipping has launched its new Pilots’ Pocket Guide and Checklist.

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