Tag: pilots

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.

The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P) warned of another supply chain crisis in the Panama Canal which has the potential to impact international maritime trade "to an extent far greater than the grounding of the Ever Given."

From 1 January 2022, Flinders Ports will require visiting vessels and their Masters to take additional safety measures related to pilot ladders.

Capt. John Pearn, Vice President of IMPA, highlights that pilot transfer operations continue to be a challenging area for pilots. In this context, IMPA conducts annually related safety survey which reflects what industry already knows; that pilots continue to be seriously injured and killed every year.

The recently-released American Club Good Catch safety guidance focuses on the pilot ladder safety issues, due to an increase in marine pilot fatalities.

As part of American Club's Good Catch safety guidance, the club highlights the importance of pilot ladder safety following the increase in marine pilot incidents.

In December 2020, Australian Pilot Captain Ritesh Bhamaria was expertly piloting oil tanker MT Godam through the Torres Strait in adverse weather conditions when he and the vessel crew sighted a distant hand waving for help in the rough sea. That movement turned out to be an uncle and nephew—both local fishermen—who had been clinging to the floating debris for close to 17 hours following the sinking of their boat, with no access to an emergency beacon or other survival equipment. Captain Bhamaria recalled his surprise at seeing the two stranded men but wasted no time in taking action. They struggled to maintain sight of the people, losing sight of them three times. Finally, when they caught sight of them again, the crew realised the two men were being circled by hammerhead sharks. Rather than risking the ship’s crew, by launching a rescue boat in the prevailing weather conditions and potentially not getting to the stranded fishermen in time, the pilot made the tough decision to turn the 251-metre ship around in restricted waters. “Without hesitation, I turned the ship to the side where I had clearance,” Mr Bhamaria said. “The two biggest issues were maintaining sight of the two ...