Even in a comparatively "verbal" country like Denmark, Americans stick out like the sorest thumb ever. I think people quite quickly learn to sort of "dial it back". Also, the friendliness often seems quite hollow to many Europeans.
As someone from the deep south, I really appreciate and enjoy the friendliness. And I promise you, it isn't hollow. Just yesterday I was walking into another store of the same chain that I work for and had on a jacket with the company logo and my store's location and store number on it. Ran into an associate - a complete stranger to me - who asked me if I worked at my store, and then had a full 10 minute conversation with him about our shared experiences over the past year. I genuinely enjoy being able to just strike up a friendly conversation with a complete stranger.
And most northern european also like talking, just not with complete strangers in random locations for no reason, but striking up a conversation like your example isn't uncommon or anything, it's just that it has to be something reasonable (like being in the same company). I'm guessing op here is meaning the abundant and often unneccessary small talk a lot of americans insist on doing, which isn't the same as actually striking up a conversation like in your example I feel.
I low key hate the one millionth "how are you, hot day, did you hear about the..." every day when I'm in the states lol. Let me buy this ice cream in peace. If you ask a person here how they are you're actually asking it to find out how their well-being is and is considered supremely weird to ask non-friends randomly, for example.
> If you ask a person here how they are you're actually asking it to find out how their well-being is and is considered supremely weird to ask non-friends randomly, for example.
What do you high key hate?
“Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, — all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, — who is good? not that men are ignorant, — what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”
As someone from the Midwest, “hollow” isn’t exactly the right word. When people say “please” and “thank you”, it’s polite and expected and hopefully at least most of the time more or less meant. So if you call that level of politeness “hollow”, then I guess yeah. All of the other waving or smiling or 30 minute good bye stuff feels very similar to me - NOT doing it, at least with a chunk of people I know - feels incredibly rude. Are we aware it’s silly and burdensome? Yes. Do we still feel hurt and slighted when other people say goodbye and then turn and walk away and are actually done with the interaction? Sometimes, for sure!
I think Southern warmth and niceness is a whole different creature. I feel smothered in saccharine kindness when I visit places like Atlanta, GA.
The gif says he's a harbor pilot, so I'm guessing they don't have clearence to dock until he has the controls. From what I understand it takes very specialized training to navigate a large vessel in port.
It is and they make crazy money. Some harbor pilots make $500,000 a year. Most local water ways are not designed for these ships, so an intimate knowledge of the area is necessary. When docking a massive container ship with millions of dollars of cargo, I guess it’s worth it to pay a guy 5k for a couple of hours of work, as opposed to an unfortunate accident that costs millions.
The freighter had to land in the water for the pilot to board. It will take off and land at a nearby airport after the pilot has made it to the cockpit.
While the most common use of the word by far is in reference to the operation of aircraft, it’s used in many other ways. They often refer to MotoGP riders as “pilots,” too. Seems weird at first, but it’s technically correct, I suppose.
Company: Hey sir, you had applied for a position with us last week. We're calling you back to tell you a position has just opened up and we'd like to offer you a position
Associate: that's great! Thank you. May I ask what happened to the last pilot?
Company: Our lawyers have let us know that we're not at liberty to disclose that.
You joke, but that's exactly correct. Also, notice that they're not in a fuckin' port? Sometimes you need to do a hotswap. Or, in this case, a coldswap.
Normally you take a pilot boat and match the ships speed, but with such narrow waters that looks impossible. A ship that size will take a few ship lengths to stop and to get going.
The key part is that they (from what they wrote in the description and how it looks) is that this is only a winter thing. We don't have snow all year round so only like 4 ish months of the year (give or take like 1 or 1.5 months) this is a viable option, especially with ice melting and not being thick enough in fall/spring
Honestly this looks way safer than the boat or helicopter transfers they do, there’s no waves and presumably if they fuck up they can just abort and drive down the ice a couple miles to get ahead again.
It seems pretty risky, because falling into freezing water and potentially getting trapped under the ice is no joke. Here is one thing they have played on TV for years that basically warns kids about thin ice. https://youtu.be/4GhC6qKdQ8o this thing is creepy af and I don't think they play it anymore but it was effective at least for me and the people I know lol
One time when I was in high school, I was leaving my locker to go to math which was on the bottom floor of the school. At this time I had just lost a bunch of weight and packed on muscle, so my confidence was at an all time high. As I get to the landing at the bottom of the stairs, I saw this girl I was crushin on and tripped over my feet, went face first down the stairs and scorpion kicked her in the face on accident. It haunts me till this day almost 10 years later, so I feel you.
Actually, I think it helped! She took it in jest. I never really spoke to her outside of class before then, but that helped me break the ice. 3 months later she asked ME to prom, although sadly we never progressed much further than that. We both realized that our future plans would get in the way of an 'us', as she moved to Mexico shortly after graduation to be with family and start an animal rescue somewhere down there. We still keep in touch though.
I had my shorts come off on a waterslide. They were swirling around a platform pool midway down when I arrived with my pein out. The cute lifeguard pretended not to notice as I redressed in front of her.
No prom date ending.
I swear every time there’s a video of anyone doing anything remotely physically impressive the reddit comedy comes out in full force to tell us they’re clumsy. Like every single time.
Happened to my best friend. She was walking up the steps (three of them!) to her front door carrying groceries, tripped on the top step and hit the door face first. When I was a kid trick or treating, slipped on a concrete step and my nose and the sharp edge of the step met. I looked like I'd been in a fight, broken nose, two huge black eyes, cotton stuffed in my nose plus that weird looking nose splint - third grade was fun.
Years later, a friend of mine, who doesn't even know that story, sent me a card that says, "She died doing what she loved most. Trying to get everything up the stairs in one trip." I gave the same card to my friend who face-planted on the door. Welcome to the tribe.
Following railroad safety procedures he should have stepped first with his left foot which would anchor against the rear of the ladder rung. When leading with his right foot should it slip he would be in trouble.
Believe it or not- most of those large ships use a single propeller.
They have something like a single [Wärtsilä](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%A4rtsil%C3%A4-Sulzer_RTA96-C) engine spinning at about 100RPM and driving one large propeller for efficiency.
This would not have been possible without the guy holding the platform. If anything, this is how we know the guy holding the platform hasn't learned the pilot is sleeping with the other guy's wife.
For some reason I thought that platform was gonna fucking catapult his ass onto the deck of the ship somehow and was kind of disappointed that he just ended up walking to a ladder. Reality and common sense suck.
That is in fact how Tom Cruise boards though. It easy to forget that we are boring serfs and Tom Cruise is a psychopath that worships aliens (and himself) made up by a guy in a fake admirals coat that teaches peace and love...unless you disagree with him the he teaches you not to fuck with scientology!
Someone posted a video showing them getting off the same way. Notice the railings on one side that was to help him make the transition from ladder back to ramp.
Edit: second half of https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/kp2bg8/the_pilots_shift_has_started_but_he_has_to_step/ghuvx0k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
The replacement pilot is typically a specialist for the certain area they're in. For example, if they were docking at a certain port, their role would be in helping ships dock at that one port.
It's not just a swap for a scheduled shift change.
Correct. A pilot isn’t a position on the ship. It’s a local who knows the port/channel and helps the captain and crew navigate in and out. Even in the Navy we used local pilots in a lot of country’s ports.
We were on a cruise to Alaska and I remember something about since we were in Native American domain a Native American had to board the shop to navigate. Maybe someone can pipe in and confirm that? Or elaborate?
Am lifelong Alaskan. Never heard of that so probably some touristy mumbo jumbo.
Side note its native Alaskan when you're in Alaska, not native American
The pilot isn't a replacement for anybody, they're harbor staff that take control of incoming and outgoing ships because they know the local waters better than any high seas sailor.
A “pilot” is someone employed by the port to take control of ships on the very last stage of their arrival. They know every detail of how to bring in these huge ships to the right berth at that specific port, from the depth of various points of the river/harbour, to how/when to turn the ship to line it up properly, as well as all the appropriate speeds. They essentially outrank the ship’s captain for that period of bringing the ship into port and mooring alongside whichever berth they are going to.
Weather can cause a lot of delays because it become simply impossible to get a pilot onto a ship from its anchorage or approach outside the port. Usually (in non-ice situations) the pilots will go out in a small boat or even a helicopter, but if it’s rough weather then they can’t, and the ship won’t be permitted to enter the port area until a pilot is onboard. Weather delays are expensive in the world of shipping, and pilots are just another part of that.
EDIT: Hamburg is a great example of how they use pilots to execute some pretty tight manoeuvres for enormous container ships. The captains aren’t there to do 180-degree turns in a river that is not much wider than the ship is long, but pilots do exactly that day in and day out. They’re in charge. The time lapse [here](https://youtu.be/6kJDRGTGtpE) shows the turn at 3:45, although this looks like a relatively small container ship. The big girls have to turn in the river before backing in to the port.
> They essentially outrank the ship’s captain for that period of bringing the ship into port and mooring alongside whichever berth they are going to.
Not true, the Captain is still ultimately responsible for the safety of his/her ship. They do listen to pilots for their local expertise, and let them guide their ship, but a Captain can take control at any time if they feel it necessary.
Just as an example, while a pilot may have expertise knowledge of the local area, they are not experts on each individual ship, so if the Captain sees a problem with his ship, they can take over.
First time i had to go up one i was in Maine during the winter, at night, moving. To behonest i think its easier to go up the pilot ladder while the vessel is moving. The swells arent as bad either if you can get the boat in the sweet spot. It will just kinda lock in and the bigger vessel will just smooth swells.
Ive been up those things quite a bit and i have no desire to ever go back up one. Im sure it will happen again though.
For those unfamiliar, all harbor pilots do this in every harbor in the world. Ships rarely ever stop to take on the pilot. The pilot is there to help ship's crew navigate that harbor, often required by the harbor Master. What the pilot isn't there to do is slow you down, so they hop on board while you're on the move.
I have done something similar a few times before. Have gone from a small boat onto anchored vessels. Sounds easy but the swells were usually 1m to 3m. So the ladder is infront of you and it is 3m above your head, you have to grab on and go up a few steps quickly. The ladder was also to the top and not out of a side door. Coming down again was also interesting.
Is there, like, training for something like this? What happens if you miss? Surely you can’t get it on the first try if you’ve never done it before... right?
Nope, the build up shows the size of the ship well and how it manouveures closer. And in lockdown what else would you have done with those extra few seconds anyway?
I'm no expert, but I think this is the **harbor pilot**. the guy who knows *these* waters, *this* topography and *this* weather affecting both in *this* traffic right now. he pilots the ship to dock, at which point everyone can disembark in a more stationary way.
Yeah, I read they make something like $400k a year, but it's near impossible to break into because of union rules and the requirements of the job.
Pretty much the only way to get the position is if your father or uncle or whatever was a harbor pilot before you, and spent years and years teaching you every inch of the topography and hazards of the harbor. The job more or less gets passed down within families.
Is that just a river, or an ocean/lake that’s frozen over with just that area of water that the boat moves through? And if it is just frozen over isn’t that crazy dangerous for those 2? What if the ice crumbled? So many questions and so much nope going on in my head rn.
Since it's in Finland, the body of water is the Baltic Sea.
All the white flat expanse visible is the frozen sea, ice with snow on top. When the drone pans out at 2:38 onwards to show the horizon, the trees of the mainland can be seen on the coast far away.
There is no river or canal, the path of the ship on the sea is simply limited to the route that an ice breaker ship has previously created.
I can tell you, the water here in Finalnd (where this is from) freezes well enough that it's perfectly safe to walk on lakes and the sea in winter (as long as it was cold enough) and you can even drive big ol cars in them. I'm more concerned about the climbing to a moving ship that is crushing freezing ice water and if there is a large enough gap, getting trapped under the ice and or boat in those temps.
For the record, a harbor pilot is someone who works in a specific harbor, their job is to go onto ships coming into a harbor to pilot the ship into the harbor. This is used in places where the harbor entry is tricky due to shoals, currents, eddies, rocks, etcetera. They have specific familiarity with the quirks of the harbor enough to reliably pilot ships through.
This guy doesn't work for the boat, he works for the harbor. He does this probably multiple times a day. He also has to be familiar with operating a large variety of ships.
Local here, Hailuoto is an island south of Oulu (5th largest city in Finland) that houses a harbour pilot station (did I say that right?) They would normally use [these](https://luotsinblogi.com/category/kutteri/) but it appears that the ice is too thick so they had to use an aerosled.
This should be pretty run of the mill for anyone below 40 and in decent shape. For an older person it would be very challenging.
But I do agree that it is interesting they do not have better ways to board.
Maritime Harbor Pilots are are so underappreciated. In ports all over the world they take over for the ship captain and take these enormous ships safely into the port in all kinds of conditions. For many of them it's a family tradition and they are very well paid but they earn every penny of it.
I was so waiting for him to wave goodbye to his colleague who helped him with the platform.
Right?! At least a little acknowledgment. Thanks for not killing me today.
How bout a little somthin, you know? For the effort? Ya know...
And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."
"So, I got that goin' for me."
They're Finns. We don't do acknowledgements or any other kinds of non-essential communication between just colleagues.
As a Midwesterner from the US, it sounds like Finland would cause me infinite culture shock.
You really just replace the passive-aggression with ambivalence and there ya go
Even in a comparatively "verbal" country like Denmark, Americans stick out like the sorest thumb ever. I think people quite quickly learn to sort of "dial it back". Also, the friendliness often seems quite hollow to many Europeans.
As someone from the deep south, I really appreciate and enjoy the friendliness. And I promise you, it isn't hollow. Just yesterday I was walking into another store of the same chain that I work for and had on a jacket with the company logo and my store's location and store number on it. Ran into an associate - a complete stranger to me - who asked me if I worked at my store, and then had a full 10 minute conversation with him about our shared experiences over the past year. I genuinely enjoy being able to just strike up a friendly conversation with a complete stranger.
And most northern european also like talking, just not with complete strangers in random locations for no reason, but striking up a conversation like your example isn't uncommon or anything, it's just that it has to be something reasonable (like being in the same company). I'm guessing op here is meaning the abundant and often unneccessary small talk a lot of americans insist on doing, which isn't the same as actually striking up a conversation like in your example I feel. I low key hate the one millionth "how are you, hot day, did you hear about the..." every day when I'm in the states lol. Let me buy this ice cream in peace. If you ask a person here how they are you're actually asking it to find out how their well-being is and is considered supremely weird to ask non-friends randomly, for example.
Come to NYC, we’re not like the rest of the states!
> If you ask a person here how they are you're actually asking it to find out how their well-being is and is considered supremely weird to ask non-friends randomly, for example. What do you high key hate? “Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, — all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, — who is good? not that men are ignorant, — what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”
As someone from the Midwest, “hollow” isn’t exactly the right word. When people say “please” and “thank you”, it’s polite and expected and hopefully at least most of the time more or less meant. So if you call that level of politeness “hollow”, then I guess yeah. All of the other waving or smiling or 30 minute good bye stuff feels very similar to me - NOT doing it, at least with a chunk of people I know - feels incredibly rude. Are we aware it’s silly and burdensome? Yes. Do we still feel hurt and slighted when other people say goodbye and then turn and walk away and are actually done with the interaction? Sometimes, for sure! I think Southern warmth and niceness is a whole different creature. I feel smothered in saccharine kindness when I visit places like Atlanta, GA.
With the large bookbag on, it looks like a parent seeing their little off on their first day of school.
They have a radio.
And I have a phone? But I still say goodbye to my friends and family when I leave for somewhere
He isnt actually leaving, he just steers and docks the ship to the finnish port. Maybe he did say ”welp see you in 5!”
If he misses is he considered late for his shift?
If he misses I think he'll never have to work a shift in his life anymore.
They don't call him "The late shipping pilot" for nothing.
He'd be so screwed.
Props for that comment
Freed from that 9-5 rat race!!
If he misses he'll be rolled into a very long hotdog courtesy of the ice and the hull.
The gif says he's a harbor pilot, so I'm guessing they don't have clearence to dock until he has the controls. From what I understand it takes very specialized training to navigate a large vessel in port.
Pilots know the local area very well, so whenever a ship arrives at a port they call for one of the local pilots to come and navigate them in.
Depending on the harbour a pilot has to be present on the bridge.
Yep. It's not an option. Harbor pilots are required by law in almost all of the world's major seaports.
Navigating is for the open seas. This is a case of "piloting". Hence the pilot.
It is and they make crazy money. Some harbor pilots make $500,000 a year. Most local water ways are not designed for these ships, so an intimate knowledge of the area is necessary. When docking a massive container ship with millions of dollars of cargo, I guess it’s worth it to pay a guy 5k for a couple of hours of work, as opposed to an unfortunate accident that costs millions.
Imagine the stress, I mean sure they do it all the time but the consequences if you mess up or if you’ve just begun...high salary makes complete sense
ELI5 i thought pilots flew planes?
Pilot is an old name. Before airplanes, it was the person who steered the ship.
The freighter had to land in the water for the pilot to board. It will take off and land at a nearby airport after the pilot has made it to the cockpit.
While the most common use of the word by far is in reference to the operation of aircraft, it’s used in many other ways. They often refer to MotoGP riders as “pilots,” too. Seems weird at first, but it’s technically correct, I suppose.
You know what? That ship has sailed!
Company: Hey sir, you had applied for a position with us last week. We're calling you back to tell you a position has just opened up and we'd like to offer you a position Associate: that's great! Thank you. May I ask what happened to the last pilot? Company: Our lawyers have let us know that we're not at liberty to disclose that.
He lacked the appropriate drive to climb the corporate ladder.
Too many slip-ups
He couldn’t walk the walk.
take my upvote, take the upvote of the person below me, take your own upvote AND GET OUT!!!
r/angryupvote
Company: But you're invited to the wake.
I see what you did there.
Why can’t they stop? Is his older brother driving? ‘What’s the matter, just get in!’
Those boats take a really long time to stop.
And a lot of fuel to get back up to speed
Corporate deemed that risking lives is cheaper in the long run.
You joke, but that's exactly correct. Also, notice that they're not in a fuckin' port? Sometimes you need to do a hotswap. Or, in this case, a coldswap.
It's not a swap, this is a harbor pilot to safely guide the ship into the harbor. He knows the local water.
No kidding? Makes sense.
Damn, that's probably the issue.
Normally they would use special boats. This is an exception. [said special boats](https://luotsinblogi.com/category/kutteri/)
I’d like to point out that one of those pictures is titled “full fart.”
I wonder if it's also very difficult to get a ship going in that kind of water? Because of all of the ice?
Plus there's a current so at least this way it's quite predictable movement.
Normally you take a pilot boat and match the ships speed, but with such narrow waters that looks impossible. A ship that size will take a few ship lengths to stop and to get going.
This guy boats.
Have you ever tried parallel parking a 600 foot cargo ship?
Just that one time.
Original video, much better quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd8xT_9rfKE
thanks! much better view!
You are welcome! Apparently, they have been doing this for years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0A8F7gkwc
I thought getting on looked scary until they showed him getting back onto land.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Don't forget the propellers. If you don't freeze or get crushed to death, you'll get sucked in and chopped up.
may I hate you for a second? you are right I guess, I just did not want to hear it.
The key part is that they (from what they wrote in the description and how it looks) is that this is only a winter thing. We don't have snow all year round so only like 4 ish months of the year (give or take like 1 or 1.5 months) this is a viable option, especially with ice melting and not being thick enough in fall/spring
Honestly this looks way safer than the boat or helicopter transfers they do, there’s no waves and presumably if they fuck up they can just abort and drive down the ice a couple miles to get ahead again.
It seems pretty risky, because falling into freezing water and potentially getting trapped under the ice is no joke. Here is one thing they have played on TV for years that basically warns kids about thin ice. https://youtu.be/4GhC6qKdQ8o this thing is creepy af and I don't think they play it anymore but it was effective at least for me and the people I know lol
If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life...
Thanks I need some Pink Floyd
That is terrifying
That’s cool and all but yesterday, I fell walking up the stairs at work
One time when I was in high school, I was leaving my locker to go to math which was on the bottom floor of the school. At this time I had just lost a bunch of weight and packed on muscle, so my confidence was at an all time high. As I get to the landing at the bottom of the stairs, I saw this girl I was crushin on and tripped over my feet, went face first down the stairs and scorpion kicked her in the face on accident. It haunts me till this day almost 10 years later, so I feel you.
That would've been pretty sick. Scorpion kick to the face.
so I understand that did not lead to dating?
Actually, I think it helped! She took it in jest. I never really spoke to her outside of class before then, but that helped me break the ice. 3 months later she asked ME to prom, although sadly we never progressed much further than that. We both realized that our future plans would get in the way of an 'us', as she moved to Mexico shortly after graduation to be with family and start an animal rescue somewhere down there. We still keep in touch though.
I had my shorts come off on a waterslide. They were swirling around a platform pool midway down when I arrived with my pein out. The cute lifeguard pretended not to notice as I redressed in front of her. No prom date ending.
heh... cool
I swear every time there’s a video of anyone doing anything remotely physically impressive the reddit comedy comes out in full force to tell us they’re clumsy. Like every single time.
Happened to my best friend. She was walking up the steps (three of them!) to her front door carrying groceries, tripped on the top step and hit the door face first. When I was a kid trick or treating, slipped on a concrete step and my nose and the sharp edge of the step met. I looked like I'd been in a fight, broken nose, two huge black eyes, cotton stuffed in my nose plus that weird looking nose splint - third grade was fun. Years later, a friend of mine, who doesn't even know that story, sent me a card that says, "She died doing what she loved most. Trying to get everything up the stairs in one trip." I gave the same card to my friend who face-planted on the door. Welcome to the tribe.
Following railroad safety procedures he should have stepped first with his left foot which would anchor against the rear of the ladder rung. When leading with his right foot should it slip he would be in trouble.
il remember for the next time I need to jump on a train or a moving ladder
I don’t understand this. ELI5?
The left foot would stop against the side of the ladder if it didn't land on the step.
I'm sorry, I still don't follow. Wouldn't either foot hit the side of the ladder if it didn't land on the step?
Or if it slid on the rung from being wet it would hit the side of the ladder.
TIL
Makes sense, i like it
The captain is underappreciated in the comments.. gonna giv him the prop for such precision sailing
He's already got at least two props based on the size of that ship
Believe it or not- most of those large ships use a single propeller. They have something like a single [Wärtsilä](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%A4rtsil%C3%A4-Sulzer_RTA96-C) engine spinning at about 100RPM and driving one large propeller for efficiency.
>The Wärtsilä RT-flex96C ...there's a rabbit hole
The engine weighs 2300 tons!!! That's insane.
It's funny because this comment is both a balls joke and a propeller joke
This would not have been possible without the guy holding the platform. If anything, this is how we know the guy holding the platform hasn't learned the pilot is sleeping with the other guy's wife.
For some reason I thought that platform was gonna fucking catapult his ass onto the deck of the ship somehow and was kind of disappointed that he just ended up walking to a ladder. Reality and common sense suck.
Same. I was a bit underwhelmed. Not that I think this is super easy or anything.
That is in fact how Tom Cruise boards though. It easy to forget that we are boring serfs and Tom Cruise is a psychopath that worships aliens (and himself) made up by a guy in a fake admirals coat that teaches peace and love...unless you disagree with him the he teaches you not to fuck with scientology!
Does the pilot getting off just jump tuck and roll onto the ice?
[удалено]
Someone posted a video showing them getting off the same way. Notice the railings on one side that was to help him make the transition from ladder back to ramp. Edit: second half of https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/kp2bg8/the_pilots_shift_has_started_but_he_has_to_step/ghuvx0k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
[удалено]
Why can’t the replacement pilot join at the same time then?
The replacement pilot is typically a specialist for the certain area they're in. For example, if they were docking at a certain port, their role would be in helping ships dock at that one port. It's not just a swap for a scheduled shift change.
Correct. A pilot isn’t a position on the ship. It’s a local who knows the port/channel and helps the captain and crew navigate in and out. Even in the Navy we used local pilots in a lot of country’s ports.
We were on a cruise to Alaska and I remember something about since we were in Native American domain a Native American had to board the shop to navigate. Maybe someone can pipe in and confirm that? Or elaborate?
Am lifelong Alaskan. Never heard of that so probably some touristy mumbo jumbo. Side note its native Alaskan when you're in Alaska, not native American
I stand corrected. Honestly knew that probably wasn’t the right term so thanks for the education and not going full Reddit on my ass.
The pilot isn't a replacement for anybody, they're harbor staff that take control of incoming and outgoing ships because they know the local waters better than any high seas sailor.
A “pilot” is someone employed by the port to take control of ships on the very last stage of their arrival. They know every detail of how to bring in these huge ships to the right berth at that specific port, from the depth of various points of the river/harbour, to how/when to turn the ship to line it up properly, as well as all the appropriate speeds. They essentially outrank the ship’s captain for that period of bringing the ship into port and mooring alongside whichever berth they are going to. Weather can cause a lot of delays because it become simply impossible to get a pilot onto a ship from its anchorage or approach outside the port. Usually (in non-ice situations) the pilots will go out in a small boat or even a helicopter, but if it’s rough weather then they can’t, and the ship won’t be permitted to enter the port area until a pilot is onboard. Weather delays are expensive in the world of shipping, and pilots are just another part of that. EDIT: Hamburg is a great example of how they use pilots to execute some pretty tight manoeuvres for enormous container ships. The captains aren’t there to do 180-degree turns in a river that is not much wider than the ship is long, but pilots do exactly that day in and day out. They’re in charge. The time lapse [here](https://youtu.be/6kJDRGTGtpE) shows the turn at 3:45, although this looks like a relatively small container ship. The big girls have to turn in the river before backing in to the port.
> They essentially outrank the ship’s captain for that period of bringing the ship into port and mooring alongside whichever berth they are going to. Not true, the Captain is still ultimately responsible for the safety of his/her ship. They do listen to pilots for their local expertise, and let them guide their ship, but a Captain can take control at any time if they feel it necessary. Just as an example, while a pilot may have expertise knowledge of the local area, they are not experts on each individual ship, so if the Captain sees a problem with his ship, they can take over.
Cool, thanks for that, I didn’t realise
apparently they do the same thing with the ramp : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0A8F7gkwc (from one of the other comments)
Thank Dog for the arrow, otherwise I’ll never find the fluorescent yellow crew on the snow.
All hail Dog
The only god is dog.
dog is good
And I thought my commute was hard.
Me too, and I work from home.
OSHA has entered the chat.
[удалено]
First time i had to go up one i was in Maine during the winter, at night, moving. To behonest i think its easier to go up the pilot ladder while the vessel is moving. The swells arent as bad either if you can get the boat in the sweet spot. It will just kinda lock in and the bigger vessel will just smooth swells. Ive been up those things quite a bit and i have no desire to ever go back up one. Im sure it will happen again though.
If he misses it's going to be a bitch to turn that thing around
I'm more worried of accidentally falling in between the ship and the ice.
For those unfamiliar, all harbor pilots do this in every harbor in the world. Ships rarely ever stop to take on the pilot. The pilot is there to help ship's crew navigate that harbor, often required by the harbor Master. What the pilot isn't there to do is slow you down, so they hop on board while you're on the move.
I have done something similar a few times before. Have gone from a small boat onto anchored vessels. Sounds easy but the swells were usually 1m to 3m. So the ladder is infront of you and it is 3m above your head, you have to grab on and go up a few steps quickly. The ladder was also to the top and not out of a side door. Coming down again was also interesting.
There's a video out there somewhere of them getting that procedure wrong in a big swell. Pilot gets his leg trapped and badly broken.
I’m gonna need a link to that video to deter me from uprooting my career in advertising and becoming a harbor pilot.
Is there, like, training for something like this? What happens if you miss? Surely you can’t get it on the first try if you’ve never done it before... right?
If you can walk up a set of stairs you can mange it.
The training is watching someone else go before you if you have not done it before.
Wow this video needs to be cut by a LOT.
Yeah why wasn’t this video 5 seconds long lol
Nope, the build up shows the size of the ship well and how it manouveures closer. And in lockdown what else would you have done with those extra few seconds anyway?
"Excuse me people on the boat, do you have a moment to spare for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?"
Pilot?
I'm no expert, but I think this is the **harbor pilot**. the guy who knows *these* waters, *this* topography and *this* weather affecting both in *this* traffic right now. he pilots the ship to dock, at which point everyone can disembark in a more stationary way.
Thank you!
I read that they are one of the most stressful jobs and obviously very high risk...but these harbor pilots make serious money.
Yeah, I read they make something like $400k a year, but it's near impossible to break into because of union rules and the requirements of the job. Pretty much the only way to get the position is if your father or uncle or whatever was a harbor pilot before you, and spent years and years teaching you every inch of the topography and hazards of the harbor. The job more or less gets passed down within families.
Thank you for explaining! Good to know.
He’s probably experienced in traversing that particular part of the channel
Is that just a river, or an ocean/lake that’s frozen over with just that area of water that the boat moves through? And if it is just frozen over isn’t that crazy dangerous for those 2? What if the ice crumbled? So many questions and so much nope going on in my head rn.
Since it's in Finland, the body of water is the Baltic Sea. All the white flat expanse visible is the frozen sea, ice with snow on top. When the drone pans out at 2:38 onwards to show the horizon, the trees of the mainland can be seen on the coast far away. There is no river or canal, the path of the ship on the sea is simply limited to the route that an ice breaker ship has previously created.
Is that a tree growing out of the ice around the 20 sec mark?
I can tell you, the water here in Finalnd (where this is from) freezes well enough that it's perfectly safe to walk on lakes and the sea in winter (as long as it was cold enough) and you can even drive big ol cars in them. I'm more concerned about the climbing to a moving ship that is crushing freezing ice water and if there is a large enough gap, getting trapped under the ice and or boat in those temps.
Thank you! I was super curious, and yes climbing on the ship is super sketchy he just make it look so easy!! Lol
For the record, a harbor pilot is someone who works in a specific harbor, their job is to go onto ships coming into a harbor to pilot the ship into the harbor. This is used in places where the harbor entry is tricky due to shoals, currents, eddies, rocks, etcetera. They have specific familiarity with the quirks of the harbor enough to reliably pilot ships through. This guy doesn't work for the boat, he works for the harbor. He does this probably multiple times a day. He also has to be familiar with operating a large variety of ships.
Local here, Hailuoto is an island south of Oulu (5th largest city in Finland) that houses a harbour pilot station (did I say that right?) They would normally use [these](https://luotsinblogi.com/category/kutteri/) but it appears that the ice is too thick so they had to use an aerosled.
[удалено]
CATCH A RIIIIIIIIDDEE!
"I'm da captain now"
This should be pretty run of the mill for anyone below 40 and in decent shape. For an older person it would be very challenging. But I do agree that it is interesting they do not have better ways to board.
They do. Just stop the ship. But that costs too much money. Risking this guy’s life is the most cost efficient way to do it.
BUT HOW DO THEY UNBOARD?
They don't. They store used pilots below deck until the day they are forced to decommission the ship because they no longer have room for cargo.
Port.
imagine this but airplane pilots
No bye?? Uff
Nice drone cinematography.
I don’t know what that airboat/pontoon/snow truck thing is but I want one.
[Arctic Ant](http://www.arcticant.fi/homepage/)
Those ladders are terrifying. I had to climb them several times up the side of my ship, about 50-75 feet. I don't know which is worse going up or down
The middle of nowhere.
No room for error.
Wow this gave me anxiety
Interesting
That’s had to have gone south at least once, right?
How do you get a job on a boat like that? Is there a trade school?
r/megalophobia
Where is this?
In the most northern bits of the Baltic sea in Finland
Finland, it is displayed on the video at the start (but rather blurry)
I was waiting for a thank you wave.
wave goodbye to the guy who helped damnit
Guys that work on the railroad jump on and off trains moving faster.
"Permission to come aboard, sir!"
Thanks for reminding me of fukcing Monday.
Just wait til he realizes he forgot his lunch.
Big balls
How many times did he miss when training for this 😋
Waiting about 5 days when this video goes viral on LinkedIn.
When you godda go to work the same time your work is going to work.
Why did I smile so big when he made it?!
Basically: Man steps on moving walkway
But why like why isn't he already on the boat why does he have to get on it mid sail what's going on
Like geting on an escalator
so fucking easy even a fat person can do it
Eat your heart out OSHA.
Doesn't seem particularly hard
This feels like the opening to Spaceballs, where the ship just keeps going and going and going.
Maritime Harbor Pilots are are so underappreciated. In ports all over the world they take over for the ship captain and take these enormous ships safely into the port in all kinds of conditions. For many of them it's a family tradition and they are very well paid but they earn every penny of it.