The pilots
Pilots Rory Jackson and Chris Upton keep things running smoothly at the port of Southampton.
Rory Jackson and Chris Upton
Pilots Rory Jackson and Chris Upton keep things running smoothly.
The master knows exactly how his ship may handle. The pilot knows the detail, the conditions in the harbour. The combination of the two is about getting the ship safely from A to B.Pilot Rory Jackson
We follow them as they travel out to sea to meet a large container ship, The Christophe Colomb, and guide her into port.
Their skills in ship handling and local knowledge are crucial. The ship is the size of four football pitches and needs two pilots instead of the usual one to handle it safely.
The Christophe Colomb carries millions of pounds worth of cargo in over 13,000 containers and is one of the largest that the port handles.
The pilots need finely-tuned skills to ensure co-ordination of a ship’s engines, lines and tugs to park a vessel which could be over 350 metres long.
Any large ship that approaches Southampton has to stick to a narrow channel to stop it going aground.
With a large sandbank in the Solent - and the Isle of Wight to the South - the pilots have to make two critical turns to keep the ship on course.
Making such a complicated manoeuvre in a big ship risks running over small boats that also use this busy stretch of water.
Rory and Chris have to bring the ship in for berthing and ensure that tugs keep it in the correct position.
With a very large ship there is very little room for manoeuvre. Damage to the ship or the quay would cost thousands of pounds.
Rory describes the importance of working with the ship's master.
"The master knows exactly how his ship may handle. The pilot knows the detail, the conditions in the harbour.
"The combination of the two is about getting the ship safely from A to B."
