Storms, waves and risky maneuvers - The most dangerous job in the North Sea?

Marine pilots must make crucial decisions under extreme conditions. Transferring from a cargo ship to a small pilot boat in hurricane-force gusts can be fatal.

For marine pilots, this is the most dangerous moment in their daily working lives: climbing down a rope ladder from a cargo ship in gale-force gusts, and transferring to a small pilot boat. In mid-January, a pilot fell into the sea off Borkum and was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia. Just a few days earlier, a British colleague died during a similar maneuver.

Harbor pilot Gerhard Janssen and sea pilot Dominik Thieben are getting ready for their assignment. In force 8 winds, they set off in the pilot boat to the cargo ship "Silver Soul". They must guide it safely out of the harbor, along the Ems River in northern Germany, and out into the North Sea. They face oncoming traffic, poor visibility and a narrow channel that leaves little room to maneuver.

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