Representing the international community of pilot captains, the IMPA (International Marine Pilots' Association) conducts an annual safety campaign focused on pilot transfer arrangements to promote professional and safe piloting operations. The results of the 2026 campaign were announced last week. This year's campaign, held from May 15 to May 29, 2026, provides a unique data analysis reported by pilot captains worldwide regarding pilot transfer arrangements.

This article aims to contribute to the awareness of pilot transfer arrangements by comparing the campaign results with those of previous years, and I respectfully commemorate all our professional martyrs who lost their lives while providing piloting services.

The key points highlighted in the campaign results can be summarized as follows:

The rate of improperly reported pilot transfer arrangements has been calculated at 13%. This shows a slight improvement compared to the previous year's rate of 14%.

Over 740 different pilots worldwide submitted a total of 4,051 reports.

Compared to the previous year, when over 940 different pilots submitted a total of 5,285 reports, this year's participation is seen to be between 21% to 23% lower.

Out of the submitted reports, 541 were reported as improper. It has been reported that 61 of these improprieties (11%) were reported to the relevant authorities. This striking figure indicates that only 11% of the encountered improprieties were communicated to the authorities. Additionally, the reporting rate to authorities has been noted to be lower compared to last year (the reporting rate for 2025 was 15%).

As in previous years, the highest participation in this year's campaign came from the continents of Europe and South America.

The continents with the highest reported improper transfer arrangements were Asia (24%) and Africa (22%). The significant increase in the Asia continent, which had an 8% rate of impropriety last year, is noteworthy. South America continues to have the lowest rate of improper reports compared to the number of reports submitted, at 7%.

Pilot transfer operation using a pilot ladder (Image: Open source)

Now, let’s analyze the results in more detail using graphs:

In previous years, the most reported type of vessel was container ships; however, this year the ranking has changed, with the most reported types of vessels being bulk carriers (952), container ships (938), and tanker ships (839).

Among the types of vessels that submitted at least 100 reports, the highest rates of impropriety were found in container ships (19%) and general cargo ships (13%), while the lowest rates of impropriety were in Ro-Ro vessels (9%) and tankers (10%).

In other vessel types where reporting was lower, warships (37%) and other passenger vessels (26%) were reported with relatively high rates of impropriety.

Among different pilot transfer arrangements, the highest rate of impropriety was seen in combined transfer arrangements at 15% (the highest percentage of impropriety reported compared to the number of reports submitted).

When examining the reports marked as improper, it is evident that issues related to pilot ladders are numerically predominant. The general distribution is as follows in the graph below:

(The term 'access to the ship's deck' here refers to improprieties related to the transfer arrangements not being properly secured on the ship's deck or the handles not being appropriate, among other issues remaining on the ship's deck).

When examining the improprieties reported specifically for pilot ladder transfer arrangements, as in previous years, the most frequently reported issue was the inadequate equipment of the suspension rope. This was followed by the non-horizontal positioning of the ladder steps, the pilot ladder not overlapping the ship's side (having a gap between the pilot ladder and the ship's side), and the pilot ladder not being positioned close to the average length of the ship. The graphical distribution and percentages of pilot ladder improprieties are as follows:

When examining the improprieties in the access to the ship's deck part of the transfer arrangements, the most frequently reported issue was that the pilot ladder (pilot ladder and/or bulwark ladder) was not properly secured to solid points on the ship's deck. The graphical distribution of these improprieties is shown below:

The most frequently reported improprieties regarding combined transfer arrangements were that the height of the lower platform of the side gangway (commonly known as the side ladder platform) was less than 5 meters above the water level, and that the pilot ladder was not secured to the ship's side at a height of 1.5 meters above the lower platform of the side ladder. The percentage distribution of improprieties in combined transfer arrangements is shown in the graph below:

The most common deficiencies reported regarding safety equipment were the absence of a life buoy in the pilot transfer area and the absence of a responsible officer in the transfer area.

The graphical distribution of reported safety equipment deficiencies is as follows:

Negligence in transfer arrangements poses life-threatening risks (Image: Open source)

IMPA Safety Campaign Results 2026. https://www.impahq.org/impa-safety-campaign-results-2026

Dynamic analysis of pilot transfer accidents. Ocean Engineering, 287, 115823 / Cenk Sakar and Mustafa Sökükcü

A strategic prioritization framework for remote maritime pilotage operations: A SWOT-fuzzy AHP hybrid analysis. Ocean Engineering, 362, 126210 / Mustafa Sökükcü and Cenk Sakar

Dr. Kpt. Mustafa Sökükcü

[email protected]

Source: SeaNews Türkiye