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 […]
News
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:
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.
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.
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 […]
DanPilots incorporate Pilotladdersafety in E-Learning programme
DanPilot, Denmarks state pilot organization have incorporated the information of Pilotladdersafety.com in their e-learning module for pilots. ” The use of pilot ladders is one of our most critical operations and we want to help increase the focus on what a good pilotladder is and how it should be rigged.” […]