Pilot Boat

Overview

A pilot boat exists to put a harbour pilot aboard an incoming ship, and take one off an outbound one, often in open water and rough weather. That mission shapes every part of it: it must be fast enough to chase a moving ship, soft enough in a head sea to keep its crew working, and tough enough to lie alongside a steel hull repeatedly without damage. It is a small craft built to professional, near-continuous-duty standards rather than for comfort.

The boat is a sharp deep-V Deep-V Hull & Superstructure that slices head seas rather than slamming over them, ringed by heavy Fendering for going alongside ships. Twin Marine Diesel Engine diesels feed a Waterjet Drive waterjet in each hull for fast, shallow-draft running, steered through hydraulic Steering & Helm. The crew ride in Shock-Mitigating Seats that absorbs wave impacts, and the Boarding Platform & Rails platform and rails let the pilot step across to the ship. Navigation Electronics electronics, the Electrical System system and a Diesel Fuel Tank complete the boat.

How it works

Each diesel drives a waterjet rather than a propeller: a pump inside the hull draws water through an intake and shoots it astern through a steering nozzle. A jet gives strong thrust at speed, lets the boat run in shallow water with nothing projecting below the hull, and steers and reverses by deflecting the jet, so the boat can hold station hard against a ship's side. Twin jets let the helm crab the boat sideways onto the ship and back off cleanly.

The deep-V hull keeps wave impacts manageable, but in a seaway the shock still reaches the crew, so the helm seats sit on a sprung, damped suspension that lets the seat travel while the deck moves under it. When the boat comes alongside, the bow and side fenders take the contact, the pilot crosses from the boarding platform using the grab rails, and the AIS and radar let the crew track both their own boat and the ship through the manoeuvre.