Yet another day at the office...

[MapisM]

"Respect!" is obviously the first thing that springs to mind when watching the video below.
Then again, it got me thinking: in this day and age, with all imaginable connectivity tools, isn't there a more clever way to tackle the problem?
Not trying to pick up a fight, mind.
I'd just be curious to hear from someone more familiar with this job - if there are any, here in the asylum?

 

[Bouba]

That is incredible! There is nothing more scary to a little boat than seeing a big ship! So to go against your natural instinct and head to it rather than away is very brave. I often wonder why they do it, a death defying trip to the office, incredible responsibility while you are at work and another possibly even deadlier trip home again. Then repeat again and again in the same day. Hope they get well paid!
I can only assume that they do it that way because like all of us boaters they are traditionalists :encouragement:

 

[Greg2]

Not pilot boats but have done boardings of inshore fishing vessels at sea - add the complication of the other boat moving almost as much as you are and it can get interesting! To be fair, we have a choice and if it is too lumpy then we won’t do it - the pilots have less choice I suspect but from experience of boarding operations in my RN days I can say it is definitely an advantage if the other vessel is a stable platform, although stepping onto a Jacobs ladder when on the crest of a wave/swell and your boat dropping away from you as you do so can be a hairy moment. Fairly important to have moved up the ladder before the boarding boat comes back up in case it is a larger swell than the one you stepped off!

Probably still done this way because there aren’t actually any other good options. A boat is required to get out to the ship and when transferring from a small boat to a large ship there aren’t a lot of choices.

 

[MapisM]

I can only assume that they do it that way because like all of us boaters they are traditionalists

Probably still done this way because there aren’t actually any other good options.

Yeah, I guess so.
I'm just surprised that someone didn't think of building some remote monitoring/communication system, to be used at least whenever conditions make the transfer too dangerous. Imho, that would be waaaay more useful compared to some crap which the industry invested time and money to develop, like the Raymarine DockSense, for instance.
Otoh, the more hairy conditions are precisely those which make a pilot in the bridge more essential, I suppose...

 

[BruceK]

The pilot has some serious balls, the pilot boat helmsman though has some serious skills. I'm more impressed by his achievement if I am perfectly honest

 

[MapisM]

I also thought that both folks deserve utmost respect.
It's a pity that the passenger who made the video stopped filming when the pilot boarded, because also the maneuver for leaving must have been interesting.
Though the boat must be waterjet powered, I think - and if so, that surely helps.

 

[Croftie]

I used to know a guy who used to helm one of the pilot boats that serviced the boats coming from the N Sea into the Humber. He told me stories of hairy episodes (to me) that was just all in a days work to him. Afraid memory does not recall these tales apart from one which I think not best to share here............... He sort of regarded his job as almost being a taxi driver for the pilots, just as skilled knowing the river as the pilots.

 

[Bajansailor]

I think that Pilot Wolf on this forum is (or was) a pilot boat Coxswain in California (?) - maybe he will be along soon to offer an opinion?
I would be thinking that surely it would be a lot safer to do transfers like this by helicopter instead, but I guess that the cost of this would be a lot more than using a 'traditional' pilot launch?

 

[BruceK]

I think that Pilot Wolf on this forum is (or was) a pilot boat Coxswain in California (?) - maybe he will be along soon to offer an opinion?
I would be thinking that surely it would be a lot safer to do transfers like this by helicopter instead, but I guess that the cost of this would be a lot more than using a 'traditional' pilot launch?

And not necessarily any safer. I used to shuttle via helicopter to a research vessel and in high seas the helicopter would hover stationary above the platform and you really got perspective of how much that platform moves. It can be enormous! Then the heli pilot would start mimicking this movement and listening to the rotors while watching his yoke movements would cause even hardened Filipino crewmen to start chunking. No thanks to that solution either in poor weather.

 

[MapisM]

I can imagine that cost is a factor, but in very strong wind with gusts, I'm not so sure that chopper transfers would be easier/safer...

PS: ops, BK beated me to that!

 

[Homer J]

If the technology exists to fly a drone on the other side of the world and post a missile through a letter box, the technology must exist to allow the boat pilot to operate the ship from his armchair on land?

 

[john_morris_uk]

If the technology exists to fly a drone on the other side of the world and post a missile through a letter box, the technology must exist to allow the boat pilot to operate the ship from his armchair on land?

Possibly. But all ships and all having the same options on shafts, engines thrusters, tugs? It’s not realistic. Then add the whole feel of how the ship is handling? The wind gusts, the ways the currents change at different wind strengths and tidal phases.

 

[Homer J]

True but it’s the same with drones, they are still affected by winds and downdrafts etc. But I take your point.

 

[LittleSister]

Dangerous, skilled job, yes. But some people like their job to be that way.

An awful lot of people are injured or die from stress/boredom/sedentary existence in office jobs.

My main criticism is that he can't be a fully fledged pilot - he isn't wearing a white hat, and his face isn't very red.

 

[PilotWolf]

I think that Pilot Wolf on this forum is (or was) a pilot boat Coxswain in California (?) - maybe he will be along soon to offer an opinion?
I would be thinking that surely it would be a lot safer to do transfers like this by helicopter instead, but I guess that the cost of this would be a lot more than using a 'traditional' pilot launch?

No, I'm not and never have been, I was however involved in various boarding operations when I was in previous UK jobs.

I have the utmost respect for the pilots and their boat coxswains. We (in he UK), also had the option (in most cases), to abort if we decided it was too dangerous. If the pilot doesn't board the ship it doesn't get into port/anchorage.

I only did it in a RIB so it as kind of a big fender, not sure I'd like to do it in a normal boat. But that said its not actually that bad being alongside a ship in a small boat. Climbing off that boat on to a rope ladder is a different matter, pilot ladders are well know for being badly maintained.

My username comes from flying helicopters. Again ship board Ops are not something I have personally done but they have their own risks too. I don't have any links but sure if you google it you'll see the detailed briefing between flight crew before any Ops including helideck landing offshore or hoisting, etc. as there is so much that can go wrong and if it does everyone needs to be on the same page.

I did have a few incidents in the UK when I was running a certain boat. Some were funny, some serious and some a combination of both, some with a great crew and some with a less than great crew. At sea I never lost anyone, as a paramedic ashore I wish that was true...

Jet drives are good for the most part... Until you lose water intake, in bad weather if you lose water and suck air you have no drive. I believe a couple of wind farm companies found this out whilst pushing against pilings... They also are prone to picking up crap, on bad days we had to stop and back flush the jets regularly. We'd leave the dock on 2 engines just so we could have redundancy until we cleared the others. (4 engines/jets).

W.