New international rules to boost safety for maritime pilots have been agreed in draft at the International Maritime Organization.
These include detailed requirements for the design, manufacture, construction, rigging, installation of pilot ladder winch reels, operational readiness, onboard inspection and maintenance, familiarization and approval in relation to pilot transfer arrangements required under the Safety of Life at Sea regulation V/23.
Issues relating to inconsistencies and ambiguities in existing regulations were also tackled through a series of amendments.
Maritime pilots with local knowledge are employed to guide ships into or out of port safely, or wherever navigation may be considered hazardous, the IMO notes, adding that the rule changes will be submitted for approval at the next session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee in December 2024.
There have been numerous incidents around the world, some of them with fatal consequences, when maritime pilots have been unable to safely board or disembark from a ship.
According to local media reports, a pilot fell into the sea for unknown reasons in January 2024 at the southern entrance to the Bosphorus waterway in Turkey and he tragically lost his life.
In a May 2023 incident, off the coast of Australia, a ladder failed during pilot transfer and the pilot sustained severe injuries.
In a June 2023 event, a pilot fell and sustained serious injuries at the Port of Fremantle. The ladder’s condition was described as “appalling”.
In a May 2023 incident, a pilot fell approximately four metres into the sea when the ladder parted suddenly at the ship’s main deck level.
