From the bridge
RSSPractical maritime compliance.
Plain-English writing for commercial operators — USCG rules, Sub M, STCW, cyber, and the free tools we built along the way. No regulatory fog. No SEO filler.
Configuring an AIS Coverage Zone for Your Pilotage District (Any Bounding Box)
How to set up an AIS coverage zone for any pilotage district: bounding boxes, boarding points, transit times, and three worked examples.
Tug Escort and Bollard Pull: Planning Assist for Laden Tankers
For a laden tanker in confined water, the escort tug is the last line of defense if steering or propulsion fails. Here's how escort differs from assist, what bollard pull actually buys you, and why the tug plan belongs in the transit record.
Tidal Windows and Slack Water: Timing the Transit
For a deep-draft ship in a shallow channel, the tide decides when she can move at all. Here's how tidal windows, slack water, and current set the dispatch clock — and why a board that's blind to the tide gives a dispatcher the wrong answer.
Tampa Bay Pilotage: Dispatch Across a Long, Shallow, Bridge-Spanned Bay
Tampa Bay is a long transit through a narrow dredged cut in shallow water, under the Sunshine Skyway, to three ports. Shallow margins, a long passage, and a bridge with a hard history make timing and clearance the dispatch priorities. Here's the challenge.
Savannah River Pilotage: Dispatch on a Narrow, Winding, Fast-Growing River
Savannah is one of the fastest-growing container ports in the country, served by a narrow, winding river transit with bend after bend and strong currents. Growing volume on demanding water makes sequencing and awareness the dispatch priorities.
San Francisco Bar Pilotage: Dispatch Through Fog and the Golden Gate
San Francisco pilots board offshore at the Bar, then take ships through the Gate and a busy bay to Oakland, Richmond, and the rivers. Fog, current, and an offshore boarding ground make timing everything. Here's the dispatch challenge of the district.
Puget Sound Pilotage: Dispatch in a Busy, Multi-Port District
Puget Sound is the opposite problem from a remote inlet: not too little traffic to see, but a great deal of it, spread across many ports, threaded with ferries and a traffic separation scheme. Here's the dispatch challenge of a dense district and what helps.
Why Fleet-Tracking Software Doesn't Fit a Pilots Association
A pilots association has no fleet — it has a coverage zone and a stream of other people's ships. That single difference is why generic vessel-tracking software fails a dispatch desk, and what the right data model looks like instead.
Off the Paper Board: How a Pilots Association Goes Digital
Most pilots associations know the VHF-and-paper board has limits, but the move to a digital dispatch system feels like a project. It doesn't have to be. Here's a low-risk path that runs the new board alongside the old one until the desk trusts it.
How Pilotage Billing Works: Tariffs, Gross Tonnage, Draft, and Detention
Pilotage doesn't bill by the hour. It bills by a tariff driven by gross tonnage and draft, plus detention and standby — and the invoice has to tie back to the transit. Here's how association billing actually works and where it leaks money.
Pilot Ladder Safety: SOLAS V/23, the Boarding Check, and When to Refuse
Boarding is the most dangerous moment of a pilot's day. SOLAS V/23 and IMO A.1045 set the rules; this is the practical rigging checklist, the common non-conformities, and how to make 'refuse boarding' a documented decision rather than a judgment call.
Pilot Fatigue and Rest: Building a Rotation You Can Defend
Pilot fatigue is a leading contributor to pilotage incidents, and unlike a ship's crew, pilots are dispatched one job at a time at all hours. Here's how to think about rest rules, why 'next up' should skip an unfit pilot automatically, and how to make the rotation auditable.