Guitz said..
The ship Bow Singapore has just run aground off Rosebud. The pilot boat has just arrived but with the tide ebbing it will be there a while

Should have put his noodle bowl down by the sounds of it

Ive been stuck off Blairgowrie had to throw an anchor out to pull my self free off the sand on the way around to western port Ill have a depth sounder and be a little more sorted when she goes back in

+1 saintpeter, looks like the pilot boat has left him to it...nothing he can do..

Spirit of Tasmania coming one way and another oil tanker coming the other way

Well Bow Singapore is off the sand spit and anchored a few miles north east of Port Arlington. There is a short news article in the Age online web page but no other news

My guess is , pilot boat was there to pick up a pilot. It was always rule, that any foreign ship must have a pilot
going through The Heads. I would think that slow speed and current was a factor.

The pilot is the boss within PPB, so unless steering or engine failed head it should be his head that rolls. Can't blame the puny PPB currents that far from the heads.

Although the pilot service somehow managed to escape lightly following the rupture of the ethane pipeline around 7 or 8 years ago. Poor old ship's captain seemed to be the sacrificial goat.

Cheers, Graeme

wongaga said...
The pilot is the boss within PPB, so unless steering or engine failed head it should be his head that rolls.

Weeeell not strictly speaking. As the captain (or master) of a ship ultimately everything that happens on the ship is your responsibility, be that entering or leaving harbour or in open ocean, if you are awake or asleep or even if you are not on the ship. Your ship = your responsibility. (If you want a good example of this read about HMS Nottingham and Wolf Rock, though in that case her CO got off lightly).

When a pilot comes on they are there to provide advice and supplement the bridge team. Now often they will "take the navigation and the con" but the CO still remains ultimately responsible for his ship.