When ‘Going the Extra Mile’ Means Crossing the North Sea

Class 3 PLA Pilot David Barnett was recently overcarried to Rotterdam

So, the process is actually very straight forward, the Pilot Coordinator phoned me to allocate the job to me three hours before I needed to be on board.  The weather was not looking pretty, so they asked if I would mind being overcarried to Rotterdam as all the Pilot Stations were offline, meaning they were not serving ships.

The reason the ship could not be served at our Pilot Stations was the large seas and high winds and Dover, which is usually the backup option in difficult conditions, was also offline due to the dangerous prevailing conditions.

Knowing that this was near to Christmas and it being a feeder container ship, I can understand the commercial pressure on ships’ Masters, crews, and their agents and with this in mind I felt it was part of my job and saw no reason not to go. We, the pilot body, are very proud of our service rates, and it is rare that we cannot serve a ship.

To prepare for being overcarried you must pack lightly and most importantly, do not forget your passport! With regards to packing, you cannot use a big bag as you may be departing the ship in a pilot cutter from a different port with different resources. You just do not know how you are getting off, so the less luggage the better. You also have your SeaSafe coat (Pilots inflatable jacket) with you as well as your helmet, so again light packing just makes it an easier journey home.

So, the paramount items are underwear, toothbrush, some comfortable clothes, and my slippers. You definitely need a pair of slippers to see you through the time on board! Then get your phone out and start downloading shows on Netflix, as you know once you clear the phone coverage range, you're not going to have internet.

The other must-haves in the bag are a European adapter for your phone charger, as most ships are 2 pin plugs and of course, bring sweets, I needed them...

I was lucky that it was only a jaunt to Rotterdam, so once I cleared the London district, I remained on the ship’s bridge chatting with the captain and his team before handing over the ship to him. I then phoned my wife to let her know when I would have coverage again in the event she was trying to contact me.

At about 21:00 I was shown to a cabin, made my bunk up, had a shower and watched a movie on my phone before reading my book. You don’t really sleep that well when you’re on a ship that you're not familiar with and with the rolling of the ship (did I mention the weather was grim?) lots of stuff moves in the cabin, so you spend most of the night trying to stop stuff making noise.

At 07:00 Rotterdam time we took a Rotterdam Pilot, so of course I returned to the bridge to chat and see how other districts work. A gentleman of a Pilot boarded, and we chatted throughout, drank very strong espressos (about 4 I think) and once the ship was berthed in the Port, I went for some breakfast on board with the Captain and Crew.

At this stage you are tired but once off the ship I was escorted to immigration to have my passport checked and with that, I was on route to Rotterdam airport.

Rotterdam airport was nice and quick the only issue I had was the SeaSafe coat due to the regulations around compressed gas for traveling. So, once the supervisor had cleared this, I was on the plane and London bound.

Once back at base I was 23 hours away and 23 hours later, I was back on the Thames on another ship - normal service resumed.

I don't mind being overcarried sometimes, the job is what it is. I wouldn’t go as far to say “off on my holidays or anything”, but it is nice to see the other ports and it had been a few years since I was in Rotterdam port. It’s good to see things from a different port's perspective. Although, I think it would have been more enjoyable if it were summer, and the North Sea wasn’t in such a bad mood!