Interview with Charlie Sarafian, New Caledonian marine pilot

The pilots make docking mega-ships look easy despite the meteorological disturbance.
Great pictures from Morocco

July 21st 2022, a thrilling day for me when I met up with the Foyle Pilots and was given a tour and a trip out on pilot vessel Foyle Leader 2. I was in the company of Coxswain Tommy McDaid and several other pilots, I was taken out past tall ship Grace O'Malley then we collected the pilot from a cement carrier called Cemluna, then back to Greencastle, it was a fantastic experience. Many thanks to Tommy and the crew for making this happen. www.nightskyhunter.com

When I was a deck officer back in the early nineties I worked on a ship that used to load grain at different ports along the Mississippi river. The name of the ship was Golden Hope, a 600 feet long dry bulk carrier with a 95 feet in beam. An average size vessel for those days' standards.

Gabon, Baie du Prince, 2012.
Getting that nice fat lady alongside

Drydocking or undocking is always a difficult task, particularly with a “dead” vessel (no power/propulsion) and the wind blowing on the ship's side.

Lack of standard user interfaces across bridge equipment is a major concern for maritime safety. Pilots are in a unique position, as they are constantly exposed to new and differing bridge working environments, equipment, interface designs and combinations of systems. As pilots face this problem throughout every shift they need to put in considerable effort to adjust their work to the many user interfaces they meet.

by Finnpilot Pilotage Oy
Luotsi nousee Perämerellä talvella alukseen ja poistuu aluksesta

ER88 Sea Trials - 16m Pilot Boat: MED-P16

An innovative approach to marine pilotage recruitment and training has increased the breadth of skills and knowledge in our marine team and set us up for the long term.