Pilot Ladder
A Pilot Ladder is the ladder of ropes and hardwood steps rigged over the side of a ship so a marine pilot can climb aboard from the pilot boat and disembark again. For higher freeboards it is combined with the ship accommodation ladder in a combination arrangement.
Because pilots have been killed and injured by badly rigged or defective ladders, the construction and rigging of pilot ladders is strictly governed by SOLAS and IMO requirements: the height above the water, the securing, the steps, side ropes and man-ropes, lighting, and a responsible officer overseeing the transfer. Pilot-ladder safety is a recurring focus of inspections and industry campaigns.
Boarding a moving ship from a small boat up a rope ladder is one of the most dangerous routine acts in shipping, and defective or non-compliant pilot ladders have killed pilots. The strict SOLAS rules on how the ladder is built and rigged exist because getting this small piece of equipment wrong is lethal.
When is a combination arrangement needed for pilot transfer?
When the distance from the water to the point of access exceeds about 9 metres, the pilot ladder must be used together with the accommodation ladder in a combination arrangement, under SOLAS pilot-transfer rules.