International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA)

Congratulations to Captain Chris Thornton, Charleston Branch Pilots Association, for receiving the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award for his actions related to the uncontrolled acceleration of the MSC Michigan VII on June 5, 2024. See the below link for the U.S. Coast Guard Press Release announcing Captain Thornton’s award: https://lnkd.in/e3WSs9AG

A warm salute to the incredible men and women who brave the seas, ensuring the safe transport of goods, connecting nations, and supporting global trade. To all seafarers: We admire your resilience, dedication, and sacrifice. You are the backbone of the maritime industry, and though your efforts often go unseen, they are always deeply appreciated. Happy Day of the Seafarer! #SafetyTipsAtSea

IMO finalizes regulations to improve pilot transfer safety: https://lnkd.in/eVd8ZF_v #MaritimePilot #MaritimeSafety #Navigation #IMO #Regulations #Safety #Shipping

IMPA has joined industry associations and partners in calling for action following the attack on the MV Tutor and cargo ship Verbena in the Red Sea ahead of this year's #DayOfTheSeafarer on 25 June 2024. #impa #internationalmaritimepilots #theinternationalpilot

This week, the International Maritime Organization Sub-Committee responsible for developing amendments to SOLAS regulation V/23 and associated instruments (NCSR 11) finalized a new performance standard for pilot transfer arrangements. SOLAS is expected to make this standard mandatory for application to new and existing SOLAS and non-SOLAS ships from 1 January 2028. Several significant improvements over the existing regime for pilot transfer arrangement safety have been achieved, including: - A consolidated, mandatory regime which should help everyone involved in designing, installing, inspecting, maintaining and rigging pilot transfer arrangements do their best work - Application to existing ship, without grandfathering provisions - Approval and type approval of pilot transfer arrangements by Administrations and the removal of self-certification by manufacturers of pilot ladders. Type approval will also be accompanied by manufacturers having a certified quality management system  - Alignment with the ISO 799 series of standards, as far as appropriate, and enhanced provisions for inspection and maintenance - Alignment with the trapdoor arrangement standard in ISO 799-3:2022 - Provisions for specific equipment for the securing of pilot ladders at intermediate lengths - A maximum service life for pilot ladders and manropes, including spares, of 36 months from the date of manufacture - A requirement to carry a spare pilot ladder and manropes - The pilot mark will be required for ships that need to use combination arrangements In addition, the new Required Pilot Transfer Arrangements poster was considered, and following valuable contributions from Member States, it will be submitted to IMO again later this year for approval.  Voluntary early implementation of the changes by flag State Administrations is also due to be encouraged.  The next steps will be: - Approval by the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109) in December 2024 - Adoption by MSC 109 in June 2025 - Entry into force on 1 January 2028 - Compliance by the first survey after 1 January 2029 (SOLAS ships) or 1 January 2030 (non-SOLAS ships) This is a significant step forward for the safety of pilots and other personnel using pilot transfer arrangements that has taken over 18 months to deliver, since the IMO agreed to start the work in November 2022. IMPA is immeasurably grateful to all those Member States and international organizations that helped us achieve this important outcome, and we look forward to their continued support.  #IMPA #internationalmaritimepilots #theinternationalpilot

Happy International Day of Women in Maritime! Yesterday, IMPA attended the "Safe Horizons: Women Shaping the Future of Maritime Safety" symposium at the International Maritime Organization. The event featured a panel discussion where experts shared their perspectives on safety. Among the speakers, Capt. Gemma Capone highlighted the urgent need to address non-compliant pilot ladder arrangements, which tragically cost the lives of maritime pilots every year. When discussing safety, the Human Element takes centre stage, as evidenced by some panellists' remarks: Every day, seafarers' remarkable work prevents accidents, yet our data collection only accounts for recorded accidents, overlooking the substantial positive impact of the Human Element on maritime safety. We were thrilled to see colleagues from Australia, the UK, Türkiye, Canada, and the USA. Witnessing our community grow is inspiring, and we hope to see more women joining the vital profession of pilotage in the future. In pursuing this goal, we encourage organizations to consult the Diversity and Inclusion Guidance for Pilotage to adopt best practices for fostering an inclusive and sustainable maritime industry. To view and download the guidance, visit www.impahq.org Let's continue to support and celebrate the incredible contributions of women in maritime!

IMPA's expert team in pilot transfer arrangements has recently developed an informative document titled 'Pilot Transfer Operations' to support pilot organizations and/or competent pilotage authorities. The document's purpose is not to prescribe a specific approach to pilot transfer operations but to provide information on factors to be considered when preparing for and executing pilot transfer operations to meet local requirements.

Data services based on S-100, the IHO Universal #Hydrographic #Data Model, will benefit a broad range of ocean-goers, pilots at the forefront. In order to experiment and test-bed the new S-100 derived products at the regional and national level and generally-speaking to raise awareness about its uses among the global pilot community, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) have signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate on activities of common interest and strengthen their partnership. It can be estimated that by the end of the decade the #digitaltwin of the navigable waters will be available for surface #navigation stakeholders. Pilots will be instrumental to carry out field tests and report back to all data service providers – either national, regional or international. The International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), established in 1970 and launched in 1971, is a non-profit organization which represents the international community of maritime pilots. The Association brings together more than 50 national pilots’ organizations whose members comprise over 8,000 individual pilots conducting more than 1.5 million acts of pilotage each year.

IMPA is known for participating in the work of International Maritime Organization, but we are also active in other forums developing standards relevant to the safety of pilots on duty. We recently participated in ISO - International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 8, Sub-Committee 1 (ISO/TC 8/SC1 "Maritime Safety") to express our position on the systematic review of ISO 799-1:2019 on design and specification of pilot ladders. It is premature to review the standard whilst IMO continues its work on revisions to SOLAS regulation V/23 (Pilot transfer arrangements). We then participated in Working Group 2 and contributed to further developing a new standard ISO Working Document 16681 addressing hull securing equipment which may be used when securing pilot ladders, man-ropes and accommodation ladders to a ship's hull. We appreciate the effort by Joris J. Stuip to progress this work and look forward to the working document progressing through the next stage on its journey to publication as a standard. Our particular thanks to Dr Keiko Miyazaki, Chairperson of the Committee, Stephanie Groleau, Committee Manager (ANSI), and Kimberley Chen, Convenor of WG 2, for their warm welcome and assistance. #impa #internationalmaritimepilots #theinternationalpilot

On 26th April 2024, the Indonesian Maritime Pilots' Association (INAMPA) led by Captain Pasoroan Herman Harianja has invited IMPA Members to the XXVII Congress to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in 2026. The invitation was supported by the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Indonesia to the Netherlands and builds on INAMPA's experience delivering the first Asia Pacific Maritime Pilots' Forum in 2017. Having delivered an outstanding Congress, Nederlands Loodswezen formally passed the flag and responsibility to INAMPA. The planning for the next IMPA Congress has already begun and we look forward to welcoming our Members there. Future Congress hosts are confirmed as: 2028 - Conapra - Praticagem do Brasil 2030 - Fédération Française des Pilotes Maritimes ( FFPM ) 2032 - Australasian Marine Pilots Institute (AMPI) #impa #internationalmaritimepilots #theinternationalpilot