Cruise Ship Season : Lindsey Wigmore

June 4th, 2019 by JCB
Posted in Technical and Training | No Comments »

Having now clocked up 30 years as a Great Yarmouth pilot where the main trades are offshore and coastal ships it was interesting to have the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary – in this case, the cruise liner M.V Seabourn Quest. Preparations were made assessing the needs of a high-sided vessel and the forecast conditions for the day. We used our experience from the simulations we had run on car carriers and previously handling large high-sided vessels, such as the crane ship Zen Hua. Additional measures in having a tug on standby were made as well. Myself and my accompanying pilot had an early wake up to make sure that the pilot boat dispatched us in time for a 0500 boarding on the 30 th June 2018 at the pilot station 4nm Southeast of Yarmouth, which is the seaward side of the Holm and Scroby sand banks. Once on board we went through the master pilot exchange of information and commenced slow steaming to take advantage of a slack water entrance to the harbour area.

A slight sea and a North Easterly wind of 15 knots made this a smooth pilotage and we entered through the piers of the outer harbour as predicted on slack water. We then swung the vessel through 90 degrees to berth her starboard side to. I was impressed with the master-pilot relationship and the relaxed atmosphere on the bridge. This can only be described by having estimated and planned the pilotage, with the assistance of a bridge team willing to engage in the relationship with the pilots. We look forward to welcoming our next planned visitor.

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Photograph courtesy of Alex Sommerville.

The above picture of the Viking Sun going through the Thames Flood Barriers shows the ship handling skills needed by a pilot. During the ship’s call to the River Thames, London pilot Phil Cunningham piloted her from sea to Gravesend and then river pilots Dave Hocking and John Sheridan took over to pilot her in the upper reaches of the Thames and through the barriers to her berth.