Tag: pilots

When Capt. Josephine Clark, a marine pilot at Port Kembla, started her career back in 2005, there were just 6 female pilots working in Australian ports. “Today we are still in the single digits. Barely any progress in 17 years,” she described to Maritime SheEO. So, what if the job becomes obsolete before some sort of gender balance is achieved? What are the key skills to watch for anyone seeking to put themselves out there for a career as a maritime pilot?  

Hong Kong announced that the Pilotage Bill 2022 to amend the Pilotage Ordinance and the legislation to refine the arrangements for the medical examination of pilots and other existing practices, and to adjust the pilotage dues, will be introduced on October 26.

UK announced that rules governing workboats, pilot boats and remotely operated vessels have been revised and remade to support innovation in industry.

Tankers of Russian oil sailing through the Danish straits will be more possible to crash and spill their cargoes if they sail through the shallow dangerous waters without the specialist pilots usually provided to vessels in the channel, Denmark’s maritime authority has warned.

A marine pilot at the port of Yalova, Turkey died on July 18 after falling from a pilot ladder into the water.

On the occasion of the Maritime Safety Week (July 4-10), UK MAIB's inspector Bill Evans refers to the issue of unsafe pilot ladders, a concern that has been regularly voiced by the industry.

Whenever a pilot or other person embarks or disembarks from a ship by ladder, they entrust their safety to the pilot transfer arrangements provided by the ship and the pilot boat crew. AMSA has noted with concern that since November 2017 several pilots’ lives have been placed at risk, in six separate incidents where man ropes have parted, or its securing point has failed.

A Taiwanese marine pilot lost his life after falling from a pilot ladder on February 21, according to local media reports. 

The safety of pilot boarding and disembarkation is a major headache for the shipping industry. Every year, many pilots are injured or died due to old (worn-out) or improperly rigged pilot ladder facilities, and/or the process of placing the pilot ladder results in injuries to the crew, notes Capt.Zhaoqingwei, Marine Safety Manager at DASIN SHIPPING PTE LTD.

Navigation on parts of the Yangtze River by international-trading vessels has come to an abrupt halt following the Covid-19 quarantining of local pilots, write Gard Club's experts Michal Jorek and Bruce Liu.