PILOT LADDER

An efficient and safe Marine practices being executed at all times by every ship of :

(i) Classes, I, II, II(A), VII, VII(T), VII(A), VIII, VIII(T), VIII(A), and VIII(A)(T);

(ii) Class X where the distance in normal operating conditions, from the water to the point of access to the vessel exceeds 2.5 metres; and

(iii) Classes III to VI(A) inclusive and of IX, IX(A), IX(A)(T), XI, and XII, when engaged on a voyage during the course of which a pilot is likely to be employed;

shall be provided by the owner with a pilot ladder and associated equipment complying with the requirements of regulation 7(3) to (10) and, when required by regulation 5(2)(b), an accommodation ladder or ladders complying with the requirements of regulation 7(2).

1) Pilot Ladder   

 - shall be so positioned and secured;

- that it is clear of any possible discharges from the ship;

- that it is within the parallel body length of the ship;

- that each step rests firmly against the ship's side;

- that the person using it can gain safe and convenient access to the ship after climbing not less than 1.5 metres and not more than 9 metres.

 

Pilot Ladder Construction

 

A pilot normally embarks and disembarks from a ship using a special ladder known by what else but the pilot ladder due to obvious reasons. You can best understand about the pilot ladder by taking a look at the sketch of such a ladder in the image below. The image shows the pilot ladder hanging down from the ship side. As you can make out, the ladder has the following parts

Manrope – this is a rope which is present on both sides for physical hold of the person climbing or descending from the ship.

Sideropes – these are used to hold the steps and take the weight of the climbers and the steps. Regulations say that this rope cannot be less then 20 mm in diameter.

Spreaders – these are used at regular intervals of the pilot ladder and help to ensure that the ladder does not get twisted which would cause difficulty to the pilot. They are normally 2m in length and are made of some kind of hard wood that could be oak. The maximum interval of a spreader can be 9 steps.

Treads/steps – the steps obviously need to be made of non-slippery material and are also normally made of same material like the spreaders, except the last 3 steps which are made out of hard rubber as they would more often come in contact with the sea water.

It must be remembered that the pilot ladder has to be made from a continuous length only and cannot be made of two or more lengths joined together. This is simply to ensure strength as you wouldn’t want the pilot to be in a dangerous situation.

But do you realize how the ladder is fastened at the top where it reaches the main deck of the ship. Well it can be done in either of the two ways depending on the exact situation at the top. The pictures below show two situations where the ladder goes over the bulwark and directly onto the main deck. The images are self explanatory and you can see that in either case, the handrails are provided for grip of the climber at the top of the ascent. Also the ropes are secured safety with some arrangement at the deck which is very important.

There are lot of technical details regarding pilot ladders and their rigging but I will not include them here. Just note that during night time there should be sufficient light for the pilot to see around, plus there need to be arrangements for lifebuoy and related safety gear in case anything goes wrong so that immediate action can be taken.

Maximum Height

Obviously the job climbing a pilot ladder is not easy so there is a maximum limit to which the pilot is supposed to climb. This is necessary since the regulators cannot expect pilots to have the skills of Tarzan or Superman, so anything more than 9 meters in height needs to be provided access using accommodation ladder or some automated means of hoisting. We will learn about these various types of pilot arrangement in our next articles.

 

·         Mechanical pilot hoists shall not be used.

·         Slight changes to the construction of ladders (spacing of steps, retrieval line, marking).

·         Requirements as to arrangements where an accommodation ladder is used in conjunction with pilot ladders (e.g. angle of slope, securing against the ship side, opening direction of trapdoors, height above sea level).

·         Requirements to ensure the safe approach of the pilot boat (unobstructed ship’s side).

·         New requirements as to pilot ladder winch reels (positioning and securing).