As you are probably aware, there is no legislation about the way a pilot ladder should be secured on deck at intermediate length. As a result, we as pilots see many different ways of securing in use every day. Some ways are considered safe, some unsafe. Recently Capt. Troy Evans […]
News
Pilot on The Ladder
Source: Chesapeake Bay magazine, November 16, 2020 For Bay Pilots, Getting to the Top Isn’t Easy story & photos by Bill Band It was just a routine trip up the Bay. At 19:30 I had boarded the Polish-flagged bulk carrier at the Chesapeake Bay entrance, and nine hours later I […]
NZMPA issues clear guidelines on trapdoor pilot boarding arrangements
The New Zealand Maritime Pilot Association, at their conference in Dunedin, issued ” A GUIDE FOR PILOT BOARDING OPERATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND WHEN USING COMBINATION ARRANGEMENTS WITH A TRAPDOOR “. This document is a very clear guideline on how to rig a pilotladder trapdoor arrangement with all safety measures in place. […]
Marine Safety Information Bulletin 21-20 , Oct 21 2020: Recommendation for Pilot Transfer Arrangements
Recent deaths of maritime pilots while embarking commercial vessels highlights the risks of operating in an unforgiving maritime environment. To ensure the safety of all personnel boarding a vessel at sea, the Coast Guard strongly recommends that owners and operators of vessels, regardless of vessel build date, follow the […]
Strength of Pilot Ladders and Intermediate Securing of Pilot Ladders
Capt Troy Evans of Auckland, New Zealand recently published a very interesting report on the results of hundreds of load tests of pilot ladders which were rigged in different ways. The testing included rolling hitch lashing, choking shackles, shackles between side ropes, endless slings and deck tongues. On top of […]
IMPA Safety Campaign
From today, for a period of two weeks, the IMPA Safety campaign is on! IMPA Reports: Welcome to the 2020 IMPA Safety Campaign! We hope that you are now familiar with the on-line survey which has become an annual event. The survey is designed to be very quickly completed and […]
Danpilot reports Pilotladder Condition Survey
Danish state pilot organisation Danpilots have issued a report on the condition of pilotladders. This survey was carried out by Capt. Jakob Trolle in 2020. During the survey, a total of 100 pilot ladders were examined reading their age and condition of the ropes and steps. Also the certificates of […]
Pilot ladders – bits and pieces and a bit of testing.
The following article appeared in AIMPA magazine number 2 about the strength and testing of pilot ladders : There is much more information about pilot ladders in the AIMPA magazine, second issue, if you wish to read more you can download a copy at the bottom of this post. Capt Troy is […]
The trapdoor arrangement revisited
Capt. Troy Evans of New Zealand pointed out some issues regarding the text on the website about the Trapdoor Arrangement. The following article contains the amended text of the website, including a very clear picture of how a compliant trapdoor arrangement should look like. Trapdoor arrangement One very special kind […]
Instructional Video – Brasil Pilots
The Brasil Pilots have launched an excellent video in 2018 on the safe use of pilot ladders. This Youtube film is 24 minutes long with English subtitles. This contribution was made by Capt. Porthos Lima, Maritime pilot at Rio de Janeiro pilots. Editor’s note: Some footage may contain pilot ladders […]