Videos From our Facebook page
Boarding an inbound Irving tankerPosted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Monday, November 18, 2019
Palanca RioBoarding a small asphalt tanker bound for Searsport. Managed to get aboard before the squall hit. Liquid asphalt is carried at about 350 degrees fahrenheit so that it can be pumped.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Towing a light deck barge up the Penobscot River to the Cianbro facility in Brewer the other day. On Wednesday there was a 15' tide rage in Brewer and we time our arrival with high water slack which means we have a lot of current in the lower part of the River. The Coast Guard has been doing a great job of breaking up the ice (some of it over 2' thick) but it takes time to flush all the way out. Above Winterport (so named because it generally stays ice free), the broken ice started to get very thick and we had to thread our way through the biggest chunks while still staying in safe water. Closer to Brewer the big flows had been flushed out by the tide, but in less than 36 hours 2" of new ice had already formed. The barge will be loading modules built by Cianbro for a refinery on the Ohio River. When the barge leaves it will be towed by an ocean going tug to the Mississippi River where it will be passed off to an inland push boat for delivery up on the Ohio River.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Thursday, March 21, 2019
Outbound for SeaOutbound bulk ship at the pilot station.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Monday, February 11, 2019
Norwegian Dawn outbound Bar HarborNorwegian Dawn outbound from Bar Harbor following Celebrity Summit
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Saturday, September 15, 2018
Boarding Star PrideWorking our way out to the second ship of the day in Bar Harbor through the remnants of Gordon. Not every day is clear and calm on the water.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Freeport/Chemical Transporter inboundWorking our way out through through a stiff breeze to a vessel arriving at Penobscot Bay the day after Christmas. It was nice to find a good lee, not too much ice on deck and a good ladder.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Thursday, December 28, 2017
Stony StreamHeaded out from Rockland to board Stony Stream, a bulk ship with 44,000 tons of road salt. Nice day for late January.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Friday, January 27, 2017
Maersk Katalin InboundBoarding an inbound tanker the other night. Swinging the ship to try and balance 25 knots of NW wind on the port side and a SE swell on the starboard side. Timing is everything and having an excellent pilot boat Captain is critical to our being able to get aboard safely. Thanks to all those boat operators and deck hands who make it easy for us.
Posted by Penobscot Bay & River Pilots on Monday, April 11, 2016