In its latest issue for November, CHIRP focuses on the reasons why receiving several reports from marine pilots is a constantly-seen phenomenon. Many of the received reports are based on pilot boarding arrangements or pilotage issues, while CHIRP highlights the facts of this usual situation.
In light of this situation, CHIRP provides a number of reasons why do pilots regularly send their reports in comparison with the other seafarers. In essence:
- In comparison to the seafarers overall who join a small number of vessels on average, pilots join or leave many in a week or in a single shift cycle. That means they have to face different and demanding situations each time.
- Pilots have a different way of thinking with a focused point of view in things.
- When reporting an incident, pilots feel that they protect their’s and the future pilot’s safety. Several reports showed that one in five pilots boarding arrangements do not obey with SOLAS demands, meaning that being a marine pilot is one the most hazardous occupations in the field of shipping.
A previous CHIRP report has also showed how pilot disembarkation procedures pose great risks to those involved, due to lack of safety measures that seem to be a usual phenomenon in the industry.
If your job involves pilot boarding or either disembarkation, CHIRP recommends to keep in mind to ask yourself the above questions:
- is there a copy of the IMPA Pilot Boarding Poster* on board, on the bridge and where the pilot ladders are stowed?
- when was the last time you read it?
- do you know the correct way to rig the pilot boarding arrangements on your ship – not just the way that it’s always done, but the correct way?
Concluding, marine pilots must be aware of the hidden risks of their job. In order to prevent accidents, AMSA has recently published a marine notice, to raise awareness and remind to the seafarers the Pilot transfer arrangements safety standards.
