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✩ABOUT THIS VIDEO✩
In this video, we investigate the Pilot Ladder. It is a crucial piece of equipment, used for embarking and disembarking a harbor pilot at sea.
✩ABOUT CASUAL NAVIGATION✩
I am a former maritime navigational officer and harbour pilot, with a passion for animation. My hobby is presenting educational stories and interesting nuggets from the maritime industry and sharing them on social media to keep them freely accessible to everyone.
For training & educational use, I offer downloadable variants (free from all ads, sponsors, and social prompts) in the Casual Navigation Store: store.casualnavigation.com/
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✩WITH THANKS✩
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✩DISCLAIMER✩
All content on this channel is provided for entertainment purposes only. Although every effort has been made to ensure the content is accurate and up to date, it remains the responsibility of the viewer to determine its accuracy and validity. The content should never be used to substitute professional advice or education.
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@@quinaconUnfortunately the quality of the items is pretty low for what you pay. These companies make their money by buying discount products and reselling them, not having their own things manufactured.
No. When the content to shill ratio, and the shill being in the middle, is this low only the thumbs down is appropriate.
My pussy downvoted this video because there was no discussion of the fish menu.
Hi Casual Navigation. I saw a clip of the Grand Voyager in extreme weather and all of the comments were debating what the crew and passengers should do in that kind of situation (evacuate, etc) and it would be amazing to see an educated approach to this topic. Love the content!
Suggestion: animation of high and low tide times around the UK- showing how high tide "moves" north etc.
I love how he talks to us like we're all seafarers who live and die by this information. Yet here I am, a software developer, smack dab in the middle of the United States, at least 500 miles from the closest ocean, sitting here thoroughly enjoying videos about ladders on ships and thinking to myself "I'd better remember this. Someone's life could be at stake."
I am also a software developer, although in Sweden instead of the US, with no connection whatsoever with the seafaring trades, and I am also thoroughly enjoying these videos and learning lifesaving skills. 😃
Hi, another software dev here! Do you also watch videos youtube videos by airplane pilots talking to you as if you're in the aviation business? ..Or about Battleship New Jersey? And a lot of other military stuff (both ancient and modern) despite being you might be a pacifist? ...and makeup turorials, and historical fashion youtubers, and civil engineering videos... and maths and physics you barely understand... ...and in depth explainations of how old obsolete telecomunications equipment works... Not to forget all the neurodiversity videos... LGBTQIA+ and human sexuality ... 😅 And have you also had to prune your youtube subscriptions at least once a few years ago, because you apparently started to bump into the max number of subscriptions supported (though the hard limit must have changed because I'm sure I've subscribed without issue to several hundred more channels since then; when I removed probably less than 50 channels.)
I’m a Ships Pilot…… Nah Just Kidding. I’m also a software developer but I’m looking for a new vocation.
well, get going developing some software that can fix these dang ladders!
I'm starting to think that everyone watching this channel is a software developer like myself, genuinely concerned about soaking in this knowledge in case I need to rig a pilot ladder
Because rope elevators are too expensive.
😅
The same reason goes for the rope escalator
Are you sure? I thought I had seen one for a good price on Ali express
Rope stairs just couldn't stay ship shape. 🤷♂️
Checks out
That fatality rate for pilots is INSANE to me. Do Pilots have leeway to say "Sorry guys, your ladder looks dangerous, there is no way I am climbing it" or are they just ordered by port authority to help when requested no matter what?
The final decision always rests with the pilot.
Flaws in the ladder might not be visible from the bottom. A step could give way halfway up or the ladder cold jerk down on its securing point and throw the pilot off.
@@gordon1545 often the first time we see non-compliant set up is after we’ve already climbed it.
there should be heavy fines when non-compliance is detected, and heavier fines when it results in an accident. ship owners and operators will only care if the $ risk is highenough
@@FreeGumFighter there’s definitely not enough deterrent in my opinion and should be greater penalties. Although cancelling a ships arrival due to non compliance costs the operator tens of thousands usually, due to delays. so indirectly they are ‘fined’.
0:39 "EVERSTUCK" 😂 They really are stuck forever
Help me, step-tug
I lol'd The reference is gonna be around for a while 😂
My girlfriend is a sailor, I’m a lifelong landlubber who’s always lived in one mountain range or another. Thank you for proving an entertaining yet information-rich way for me to learn to understand her world ❤
i love how he is slightly mad like how hard can a rope ladder be
Totally agree. Of all the ways for someone to die at the hands of someone elses incompetence, this has got to be one of the worst offenders.
Actually, rope and line work can be quite complicated, and the complex tasks are often the domain of a specialist within the deck crew. He/she often has a dedicated room (locker) for working. Rigging the work, however, would be supervised by an experienced crew leader.
Your emphasis on "Common Sense" makes me wonder how much you had to deal with the absence of it lmao.
As with an IQ of 100, common implies that the middle ground sense. And then you should realize that half the people of the world are below those averages. I.E, half the people of the world have less than common sense.
Flip through any OSHA type manual. Most of the stuff will have you angry that anyone would think about not doing this, followed by a list of accidents where people did it wrong.
My guess would be somewhere between an army and a construction site. I only have experience with the latter, and I have so many horror stories...
Curious fact: there was a Brazilian port pilot called "Zé Peixe" that used to swim to the boats and then go back swimming to the port (jumping from boats as 60ft high) even when he was older. He died at 85 years old (in 2012) with some honor medals for saving sailors.
this is a falacy that braziulian people made up to make folklore stories that entertain the masses.
@@majortom4543 There are videos of him jumping from ships; he worked from 1947 up to 2000s. Look up "Zé Peixe" on wikipedia.
@@aleattorium No wonder they called him "The Fish".
i wonder if there's an even more extra pilot who would use grappling hooks and tarzan his way around ships, especially back when sails were common.
@@alveolate I bet there's a story like this especially when carriers were in the beginning and very experimental. Some pilot had to test landing on a ship for the first time lol
From a Pilot - Great video, very well explained. If only that common sense you speak of is actually common!
I think CN is also a pilot.
Common sense is overtaken by profits.
Common sense, unfortunately, appears to be the least common of all senses.
Wouldn't a trebuchet be easier?
@@Lemmon714_ A trebuchet is easier and safer. Unfortunately, thanks to strict regulations the operator is required to say "yeet" precisely at the moment the pilot is launched. If they don't follow the regs, the operator can be fined up to 10,000 dollars.
There's a scene in the Wheel of Time books where the Sea Folk (a group of people who literally spend their entire lives living and sailing ships) are making port in a fairly major town and that town requires them to have a pilot, so the Sea Folk bring him aboard and pay his fee but the staunchly ignore him and his instructions and navigate the harbour just fine. In the series it becomes such a trope that the pilots have stopped bothering even trying to guide the ship and just quietly stand on deck waiting for them to dock so he can collect his gold and leave.
A rotten and badly secured ladder cost my great uncle to be stuck between the hull of the ship and the pilot boat at night when he was pilot of the Adour . His back and a few ribs were broken and he almost drown .
Caused*
Drowned*
Also there’s no space before a period, just after. Like this.
Et mes illustres balustrines sur ton tarin ?
Thank you for your sufficiently understandable comment.
As a rock climber I find most of this ladder stuff mind-blowing. You don't drop a line to the pilot for him to tie into a harness? Yikes!
There's no way a little crane and hoist system isn't cheaper and safer
@@__Brandon__ safer maybe
@@__Brandon__ : even just a static safety line for the pilot to tie in to would keep them alive in a number of dangerous circumstances.
Or a metal ladder that is bolted onto the hall.
@@__Brandon__what they use today does meet the strict requirements of ISO-799. Also the use of mechanical pilot hoists is prohibited by SOLAS regulation V/23.
I'd watch the heck out of a video on the intricacies of who's in charge when the pilot is on board.
Iirc, he is/was a pilot or works closely with them.
Very few captain's would dare to over ride a pilots orders (suggestions) Captain remains as the authority on the bridge.
I usually like your videos and never get disappointed, but in this case the main question is not answered: why is it a ROPE ladder? Why not a rigid fixed ladder, etc.
You sometimes see fixed ladders at the stern of the vessel, protected by steal pillars, to avoid the ladder or the person using it being crushed during a boat landing. Fixed ladders require more maintenance, are easy to damage during more difficult sea states, just as they can easily damage the pilot boats. Furthermore, fixed ladders move along with the vessel, rope ladders have some freedom to compensate for that movement.
You want the ladder to be rope, not cable, and not rigid aluminum, so it can sway with the waves and the relative motion between tug and ship, not corrode in the salt or scrape the side of the ship, but most importantly, a rope ladder won't be too rough for the pilot to climb against, won't be rigidly fixed to the moving ship, and won't toss the pilot about, injuring him or tossing him into the sea. See; common sense. I think he meant for us to figure this out ourselves.
The tone of this video felt very personal. Did you know a pilot who was injured trying to board a ship?
Make the skipper and boatswain use the rope ladder before they put to sea. Should clear most of those issues right up.
Na. Make the owner climb all ladders of the company once a year.
Ok here's the real question: WHO disappointed this man!?! I assume the reason all of these things are explained is that they are frequently overlooked.
I absolutely love this commentary it is so personable and he speaks to us as if we are not stupid. I know very little about boats and water but this is so interesting. Love the voice so interesting and warm. Thank you Casual Navigation, keep up the good work.
Also, if your vessel has a pilot embarkation door closer to the waterline, PLEASE remember to ACTUALLY CLOSE IT when it is done being used!
when THEY HAVE FINISHED using it. Not fkn done. HAVE FINISHED!
Good video as always, tyvm. The white and red markings on the sides also indicates the freeboard, whether its less or morethan 9m.
It’s a neat treat seeing these little boats come and go when on a cruise.
I do a lot of beach cleaning and often find the plastic winits on our beaches. Sometimes find sections of the ladder too!
when I was in the coast guard in the Bering Sea, we would have to board large fishing vessels daily for inspections. Most of the time they would have rope ladders, but often they only would have a single rope with knots tied in at regular intervals. These were quite dangerous to climb. Occasionally when we had to board one of the very large Japanese factory ships they would lower a large basket down to our motor life boats and we would climb into the baskets and they would lift the whole boarding party up onto the deck. In the 2 years I was working on the coast guard cutter, we only had one crew member go into the water, it was when he had to let go of the ladder to land back into the motor life boat and misjudged the timing.
Another excellent video, thanks. One of the scariest things I ever had to do, leave a vessel to go to a pilot boat, over a 100 kms off the coast in 2.5-3 m significant wave height. Climbing down the ladder is already pretty scary, but transitioning from the ladder to the pilot boat under those conditions is very, very tricky. However, it went well, but great respects to all the pilots out there.
"Everstuck" 😂😂😂
EVERSTUCK! LOL! Well played.
As a lad in the '50s and early '60s the family would travel Hull-Rotterdam several times a year to visit my Dutch father's family. I still remember the excitement of watching the pilot arrival/departure. Tugs were also important. These days tugs and pilots are no longer part of the crossing.
Love it. Seems like an eccentrically old-fashioned process surrounded and crowded by 21st century miracle tech.
Gosh I sure do love videos about ships and maritime safety procedure despite the fact that I live in the desert and will probably never be on any boat.
Ive seen the videos of Pilots boarding in rough seas. Testicular fortitude is all I have to say.
I love your videos, they're so informative! Could you please talk about the sinking of the bulk carriers Stellar Daisy and Stellar Banner? They seem to have something in common, and a case study would be interesting.
Another interesting use for them - on a group chat, someone shared a clip of a pilot missing the rope ladder getting on a ship. Ex-marine friend who never really dropped the mindset said "They should leave them attached around Somalia for the pirates to climb up and into a closed off room where you can just pop them easy peasy." I mean, he had a point, right?
Straight to the brig
Redundancy? Climbing harness and climbing rope would add much safety and the pilot could bring the load bearing rope with them themselves for extra safety along with their own harness
It’s been tried and tested and found to be extremely dangerous.
How is it more dangerous?
Probably just introduces more points to make reattachment mistakes or get entangled through that extra line. I'd imagine if something went wrong during the climb, it'd be easier to bail into the water instead of getting repeatedly bashed by the ship due to being clipped in.
@@commentor3485 There is often rapid vertical movement between the pilot boat and vessel being boarded, so being affixed to either on is dangerous. If you were attached to the ship and standing on the pilot boat the line could come tight and pull you off the pilot boat. Check out @sea_weathered for videos of pilot boarding work.
Hi! Long time viewer, you’ve really outdone yourself with this video. I absolutely loved it! I hope this raises the awareness it needs ❤️ (so many deaths over such a seemingly simple part of the job, no? 😅) Love, from Mexico 🇲🇽
Aquaman just uses the school of fish to step on. Seems more eco friendly than mass producing rope, paying fuel to haul the weight of the rope, and the people who have to make, sell, or transport the rope. Fish are free. It's like a life hack
Depends on what you mean by "eco friendly", I suppose. For instance, if it were my head you were stepping on, I wouldn't call that friendly.
no, but still ecologically okie dokie. (Don't tell those people who catch em with hooks in their mouths, with nets, or for sport though, they get big mad at this amazing LIFE HACK) @@SgtSupaman
It was an A/B's job to make and maintain. Proper seamanship 😊
I did actually know that. I’ve watched enough Chief MAKOi and others to understand the process. Plus I’ve read plenty of books where transport is necessary to the plot.
7:00 "Beyond that, it'll feel more like a ladder than a staircase" What else do expect from an accommodation **ladder**?
Thank you!
Common sense is an uncommon virtue.
congrats on your 100th video!
I can see a lot of pilots getting on and of board. But I do notice that some ships even just skip the lader beyond the rubber bottom 4. the rest are just a fixed laders. They will lower that to just above the deck of the pilot boat.
I had absolutely no interest on ships. But as an aviation enthusiast, it's really amazing seeing the roots of all the stuff that aviation adopted. Now I find ships really amazing (although the recreative ones, those tinier ones which people usually have party, are still meh)
I didn’t realize how hazardous the pilot transfer is until I saw a video where the pilot’s foot was smashed between the ship and pilot boat. And now I hear a couple pilots die each year in transfers. Wowzers! I appreciate those folks even more than ever.
I used a pilot ladder when I was 14 or 15 (cant remember) i was doing my stage de 3eme (i cant find the english equivalent) at Brest's harbour master's office and that day the harbour master told me today you'll follow a pilot to see the manoeuvres and stuff It was great and climbing onto a rope ladder on the side of a ship at sea was definitely quite an intense experience lol
Excellent presentation of a critical subject. Thanks. __Ex mariner
Maybe a discussion on pilots wearing helmets and a proper closed cell floatation lifejacket that offers some ballistic protection in a fall would be appropriate. It also doesnt need a mechanism to inflate and cant be damaged by barnacles and other punctures. Broken skulls, ribs and bleeding lungs and kidneys are deadly at a remote pilot station. Maybe a reminder not to wear a backpack on the ladder is in order too. Tough to have a lifejacket hold up all that weight and keep your airhole above the water. Best if the pilot boat doesnt camp under the ladder. Wait till the boat is out of the way before climbing up too high. Water landing always beats cold steel railings, decks, deck houses, and bitts hard points on the pilot boat. Anyones pilot boat carrying a tourniquet for catastrophic lower leg injuries?
0:42 Everstuck!
I fear that the “common sense” that you seem assured still exists in great abundance has in recent years become much more scarce and is in fact becoming quite rare. I’ve taken to referring it to it as “horse sense” being that our equine friends still seem to retain their’s.
"Everstuck", just hilarious man.
Ey if there is a casual navigation there should be a casual aviation channel also
So in summary, I have, and I must be a Perfectionist to be able to check every small details of potential unsafe practices. Got it.
I can see the shackles between the steps being used as a safety measure while the main ropes are secured to a strong point by their ends. This would catch the ladder if anything were to fail at the strong point
I just remembered his accent and searched for a video to listen to him.
When I saw your poll I was like pilot? But what happens to their plane? xD
Well you see
Someone else grabs the rope and climbing unto the plane
Alot of the harbor pilots around the columbia river mouth use a helicopter, seems like the currents toss the ships around too much for the ladder boat.
The biggest factor is the fatigue of crew when rigging the ladder. We walk round like zombies rigging the ladders especially if weve had lots of port calls. The ladders are always stored outside in the sun, because they are so heavy when you're fatigued, a lot of these rules are rarely enforced on commercial ships from mh experience
I wish Bespoke post would give me some hint what'll I get before I commit to giving my details, I might be interested then.
"EVERSTUCK" 😂
Happy 100th video! 🎉
Is it possible to get a video on why there are no feasible alternatives that are a lot safer? I mean I can still see Pilots slipping or tripping when the ladder is indeed in tact. This is an insane task to me.
I'd wager it's regulatory and practical. There's no inherent reason why a safety cable with an elevator brake tethered to anybody climbing up the ladder couldn't be used. Or a fan used to slow the descent to a reasonable clip combined with an emergency dry suit. That being said, those both contribute complexity and expense to the process and would have to be mandated by whatever nation's flag the vessel is sailing under.
Right, but why is it made of rope though? Wouldn't it be better to have a metal ladder built onto the side of the ship?
A metal ladder would be a liability when it comes to priates. Plus, I'd imagine a metal ladder would be harder to replace.
Metal parts would also gouge the paint as the ladder rocks about on the waves, introducing a lot of points for saltwater spray and rust to seep in.
0:13 that's a Shannon class lifeboat, not a pilot boat
Heard about the baltimore bridge collapse and im wondering when this channel will cover it
We need that ladder to just because of Hamburg. We are just 85x9,5m tall and have a total height from keel to deck of 4,5m 😅
Love the ‘Everstuck’, but rigged to ‘lee-ward’ rather than ‘loo-erd’?
Makes sense, I saw our pilot on my lasy cruise jump on through a door that was opened.
Would it be possible/ useful to have a top line for security, and the pilot wear a harness?
But then the betting pool would have to shut down. Where's the fun in that?
My guy has a new video topic with this Baltimore bridge collapse
Hi
+1 new subscriber
Why is there no safety harness involved, with a line secured to the ship that pilots can latch onto for the climb up/down? Has it been tried and proven dangerous? I can see how if the pilot were to get swung around uncontrollably, but have never seen it before and am curious.
Are pilots required to use some sort of safety harness?
"Boat load of resouces", "starboard bow" He's dead, Jim I feel like pilots using a harness and latching points might help. But, that relies on training of fall arrest and rescue
This video was very informative, but sadly failed to answer the title question: why do ships have ROPE ladders - as opposed to fixed steps on the outside of the hull? There may be something very obvious I'm missing, but I would appreciate it if someone could please explain why fixed steps would not be appropriate!
You should start making videos on nebula
0:40 I prefer "Evergiver"
My uncle is a ship pilot for the Houston ship channel
I was posted aboard a couple ships in the Navy as a boatswain,, and we never had any kind of problem with pilot ladders whatsoever. It was not that difficult to do things correctly.
EVERSTUCK won the video
At 4:12 the auto captions claim you said "winits" but I am getting zero results for that word. Could it have been "wind heads" or "winnets" or honestly I have no idea what that was supposed to be. Could you spell it out for those of us wishing to google whatever it was?
Wiktionary claims "winnet" is a UK term for a piece of poop stuck to the asshairs of an animal or person. Excuse me but that could not possibly be the etymology of your wooden ladder wedges?
I still wonder why ships don't just use the motor launch or an open lifeboat, and its davits, for boarding pilots, seems like it'd be much safer to just ride what's essentially an elevator up than to cling for dear life to a swinging rope ladder like Indiana Jones. Hell, depending on sea states and the slope of the ship's hull, you could even drop the thing straight onto the fantail of the pilot boat if it's a lightweight RHIB, no stepping over water at all. Besides which, inspections of lifeboats and davits are MUCH more stringent than inspections of a dirty wood-and-rope ladder that gets stuffed in a rope locker in the bowels of the ship and kinda just assumed to be rigged properly and up to spec even when it's far from it.
Evergreen ❌❌❌ Everstuck✔️✔️✔️
Problem is that logic and common sense are super powers nowadays because they are so rare!
Can a pilot censure the ship or captian after having discovered the ladder not being in compliance?
EverStuck.. lmao
3:18 There are boatloads of resources..." LOL
It seems crazy to me that, with all the engineering that goes into these ships, they don't have built-in provisions for this. Maybe a door near the waterline, or if that's too complicated, a dedicated staircase or winch that's part of the ship? Maybe even just a rigid aluminum or fiberglass ladder that hangs over the side? Can anyone explain why these aren't better than a removable ladder that has to be skillfully set up every time?
Depending on the design, some ships do have hatches near the water line. Rigid ladders aren't used due to maintenance issues and being prone to be damaged by high seas or when docking. Davits and lifting baskets would work but would suffer from improper maintenance just as much as rope ladders would. Rope ladders are inexpensive and easily replaced, but as stated, the problem is lack of maintenance and inspection.
What I don't get here: Usually you need to be strapped in a harness for a ton of different things. Why is there not a redundancy rule that the pilot needs to strap to a climbing rope for security while climbing up?
Why don't they just also use a harness, like every other working at heights job requires? wouldn't be that hard to implement either, and would probably save a lot of people
All I have to say after watching this is that, were I a harbor pilot, I would invest in a jet pack. It may be more dangerous, but at least if I die it's _my_ fault.
How about such a ladder made out of aluminum or some alloy?
That'd just gouge the ship and create rust. Also more slippery when wet.
@@doujinflip Make "core" of the line from some synthetic or metal and have regular rope cover it?
Why not have a harness which the crew can send down a rope from a "fallblock"
This whole video felt like it was playing at about 1.25 speed.
Gonna guess a lot of shipping companies simply don't care about the lives of pilots. Extra cost to properly maintain the equipment and train the crew, much better to pay out some death benefits to a family here or there to them.
So many accidents. Is there such a thing as a safety line for the coastal pilot to clipped in for the climb? Rock climbers and construction workers use them.
Apparently that just makes it more dangerous, since the pilot can't jump off if the climb goes wrong. Pilot ladders would be somewhat wet, swinging somewhat severely, and in some sort of decay.
@@doujinflip , huh, never thought of intentionally jumping off...good point. Although, in rock climbing there is a spotter holding the safety line, giving or holding as needed.
Why do ships have rope ladders?
Do pilots wear floatation vests?