OUR SERVICES
Kimberley Coastal Pilots are unparalleled leaders for pilotage, safe navigation and voyage planning throughout the region. Their expert knowledge of the Kimberley waterways, coastline, archipelagos, tides, currents, anchorages is second to none. They also possess a wealth of understanding on the indigenous culture, pioneering, pearling and WWII history of the area. Kimberley Coastal Pilots will ensure that your voyage through the Kimberley encompasses the most spectacular of natural, cultural and historical locations, with complete safety.
VOYAGE PLANNING
Planning Kimberley coastal voyages is complex, and requires significant local knowledge of the best Kimberley sites, and the right conditions and timing, as well as permits needed, to be in the right place, at the right time.
Access to the Kimberley coast and marine parks requires permits to be obtained from the relevant authorities, which are managed in partnership with local indigenous groups. In order to undertake voyages through these areas, a list of destinations for each trip are required to be submitted along with other information. It is advisable to obtain approval for more destinations than required, to provide contingency for changes due to weather conditions and tides that may make a destination difficult or impossible to access a location.
The Kimberley can deliver strong southeasterly winds at times, making tender transfers from ship to shore impractical. Weather forecasts can indicate conditions days ahead, which gives the pilot and navigation team the ability to re-evaluate and choose alternative destinations that are more sheltered and provide the best shore-based locations to visit for the conditions.
Vessel parameters control what is possible due to draft constraints, ship length, passenger numbers and tender types. These variables, combined with the current weather and tidal conditions, and the location of other vessels in the area, will define the decision.
The marine park boundaries require vessels to discharge grey water outside certain areas, and this needs to be factored in to overnight passage routes to then also be able to meet the tidal phase for the following day's shore excursions.
Kimberley Coastal Pilots have an intimate understanding of the complex interplay of all of these factors, and can assist with voyage planning by consultation or review of courses, distances, anchorages, waypoints and shore excursion opportunities. To give you the highest level of information needed for a successful cruise, we strongly recommend engaging our services during the voyage planning stage, prior to going to brochure.
PILOTAGE
Pilotage in the Kimberley is not straight-forward, nor easy. Expert knowledge of the tides, currents, anchorages, reef and shoals, as well as ship handling is needed to safely navigate vessels through these challenging waters.
Usually a marine pilot is port specific, and training is structured around navigational constraints and ship handling working with harbour tugs and port regulations. Kimberley pilotage is based on a very different set of parameters. The coastline is vastly larger than any port boundaries and encompasses thousands of islands and nautical miles. The Kimberley tides are the second largest in the world, and vary between bays, ranging from as little as 2.5M to 11M, depending on where you are in the Kimberley. At times, this means that the tide can be dropping at up to 2M per hour, and tidal currents in between the islands and archipelagos can reach up to ten knots at times.
Kimberley Coastal Pilots have worked in cooperation with the Australian Hydrographic Office and survey vessels to assist to determine safe shipping routes throughout the Kimberley over the past 20 years. While navigational charts show extensive surveyed areas, there are also partially surveyed and unsurveyed areas, which means a measure of danger still remains. Because of this, safe passage requires highly accurate planning and navigation.
Our team have decades of hands-on Kimberley experience, as masters on smaller vessels going into many areas that larger ships cannot access. Our experience includes being expedition leaders, safely managing shore excursions into many of remarkable sites within the region. Kimberley Coastal Pilots are the only pilotage group who have Master Mariners with this rare and unique knowledge of inshore Kimberley locations and conditions. That’s the qualifying criteria we demand from pilots who join our team.
Now that large cruise ships are regularly visiting this area each year, the need to provide assurance for safety of life at sea is vital. As the only highly experienced and knowledgeable Kimberley pilotage team, Kimberley Coastal Pilots provide the services needed to ensure a completely safe voyage in this incredible region.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Education and training of a foreign going master and transition to marine pilot, takes a different mindset. The exchange between master and pilot is specific and starts with the respect the pilot has for the master’s position and his ultimate control over the ship. When onboard, our pilots primarily support the ship's master, and the bridge team, to provide navigation advice.
The delivery of all successful cruises and expedition voyages is a team effort, every aspect matters, and all aspects are connected. Training our pilots in risk assessment, client, crew and passenger relationships, and assisting with port requirements, permits and government regulations is all part of the service.
The expedition leader position is not a service we provide however our team can assist to provide the ship's expedition leader with any additional knowledge of a particular destination.
In addition to our extensive Kimberley pilotage skills, our team possess in-depth knowledge of Kimberley wildlife, its indigenous culture and history, as well as the area’s remarkable pearling and WWII history. Our pilots can also deliver ship-board lectures for passengers, from their perspective, of past experiences in the Kimberley, and on specific topics of the region they are well conversant with.
All of the Kimberley Coastal Pilots team receive pilot training with our affiliate company, West Coast Pilots, who have contracts in ports throughout Western Australia. Advanced Pilot Training in a recognized maritime training facility and Bridge Resource Management are two additional courses they complete.
OUR AFFILIATES
