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PILOT TRAINING COURSES
Nautical Colleges offering Pilotage Training
Contents
William ( Bill) G. Wilcox
William (Bill) G. Wilcox 1911 ~ 2009
After several months of illness senior retired Liverpool pilot Bill Wilcox died on July 15th 2009 at the grand age of 98. Read the rest of this entry »
SEAWORK 2009
Having been offered a stand at this year’s SeaWork Exhibition, held at Southampton on the 16th – 18th June, the UKMPA were well represented with chairman Joe Wilson, Jim Richie, Matt Winter, Kevin Constable, Mike Robarts. Manning the UKMPA stand. Other pilots visited the stand and greatly assisted in keeping the bar afloat!
L – R Martin Phipps, Matt Winter, Kevin constable & Mike Robarts
There was a full programme for the 3-day event which included the Annual General Meeting of the UK Harbour Masters’ Association, together totalling some 500 delegates. Of interest to pilots is that OMC won the civil engineering award for their “In Transit Real Time Dynamic Under Keel Clearance System.
This annual event is rapidly gaining international recognition and despite the recession attendance was well up on last year.
Legal opinion: Piloting oversize vessels
PILOTING VESSELS OVER AN AUTHORISATION LIMIT.
Following the HA’s taking over rrsponsibility for aothorising pilots following the 1987 Pilotage Act, many districts retained the authorisation structure and wording from the Trinity House authorisations. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial July 2009
From the outset it was evident that the media frenzy in America, following the Cosco Busan allision with the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, would ensure that the role of the pilot, John Cota, would be subjected to detailed scrutiny. What wasn’t anticipated was that criminal negligence charges would be brought against him to which he subsequently pleaded guilty in a plea bargaining agreement. The court’s decision to impose the maximum possible 10 month prison sentence on the pilot, has set an alarming precedent which has profound implications for all pilots worldwide. As criminal charges commence against a pilot in France, all pilotage organisations need to work together to decide how we can address this issue. As Australian pilot and IMPA vice president, Steve Pelecanos, aptly states:
“We need to send a strong message to industry that it is an inherent part of the human condition to make mistakes and pilots, like all humans, are capable of making mistakes. If, as an international maritime industry, we are to acknowledge that the criminalisation of pilots who make mistakes is acceptable, then we must be prepared to accept the potential detrimental impact this might have on international trade”.
Every day around the world, thousands of pilotage acts ensure that the world’s trade keeps moving with the minimum of delay. Many of these acts will be undertaken in challenging conditions at the limits of operational parameters. Pilots are expected to cope with such conditions but the considerable skills employed and stress endured go totally unremarked when the ship is berthed alongside and cargo operations commence! Although the Master and Officers of the Cosco Busan received immunity from prosecution by cooperating with the NTSB enquiry, the ship operators, Fleet Management are facing court proceedings later this year. They will no doubt argue that the pilot has admitted liability and walk away after paying a nominal fine. With the shipping industry’s opinion of pilots generally low, John Cota’s fate will inevitably fade rapidly from the headlines but I, for one, will be thinking of him and his family throughout his prison ordeal, especially when piloting in marginal conditions!
PENSIONS NEWS JULY 2009
As I write this, summer is halfway over and holidays have been taken. I went home to see my nephew tie the knot and Loretta enjoyed the wilds of west coast Scotland.
45th EMPA Football Tournament – OSTEND
This year the Ostend pilots (LSOV) hosted the 45th European Pilots Football Tournament. Held since 1964, this is the 7th time that Ostend has organised this great occasion.
Players are: L-R: Willy Terry ( Forth), Matt Easton ( Liverpool), Pater Flanagan (London), Kevin Walsh (Captain, Liverpool), Steve Blake (Tees), Terry Crowe (Ex Liverpool, cheerleader)
Mike McNeill (Manchester), Graham Langley ( Manchester)Devey (Ex Liverpool, cheeleader)
Front Row: Steve Swanick (Manchester), Chris Spurling (London), Dave Williamson (Liverpool) Kenneth McInnes (Forth), Zane Jaochim (Tees), Simon Wood (Liverpool) Read the rest of this entry »
Liverpool Pilots Retire. Another End of Era
Liverpool’s “Class of 1960”
May and June of this year saw the retirement of the last three serving pilots of the 1960 Liverpool intake of apprentices or “Boathands,” which was the legal, ‘Bye-Law’ term for trainee pilots. Read the rest of this entry »
121st UKMPA Conference Report
121ST UKMPA CONFERENCE REPORT
This year the conference was a one day event held on board the HQS Wellington and was attended by 39 pilots from 15 districts. Read the rest of this entry »
Obituary: John Frankish 1922 – 2009
John Frankish, retired Trinity House Cinque Ports Pilot, died on the 19th May 2009 at the age of 87.
Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial April 2009
This quarter’s feature focuses on four MAIB reports into Fog related incidents. Tragically, one of these resulted in the loss of three lives on board a tug which capsized whilst towing in fog. Read the rest of this entry »
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