Maritime Art By BobbyR

Seaports operate 24/7 so it takes a lot of hard work to keep them operating safely and efficiently. To accommodate the ships that bring goods into and out of the U.S., seaports have to provide lots of services. They have to provide pilot services to help guide ships into and out of the port, tug and tow services to help the big freighters and tankers maneuver inside the port, harbormaster services to control traffic in the port and help ships dock, shipping agent and dockworker services to load and unload cargo, and wharfinger services to provide space to warehouse goods until trucks and trains can bring them to their final destinations. They also provide security to protect ships and their cargos from theft or attack, maintenance services to make sure that basins and channels are dredged so big ships can pass through without going aground, repair services to insure that seawalls and docks are in good working order, and commercial realty services so that shipping and cruise line companies can have office space to operate, and parking facilities for workers and cruise passengers to park their cars. Yep, seaports are busy places.

In these galleries, you will find paintings of some of the vessels and operations that keep seaports running and help make them the special places they are.

Port Pilots are the safety nets of International seatrade. All seaports are dfferent from one another in their geography, climate, geology, berthing architecture and ship traffic patterns. Unless a ship captain is knowledgeable about the water currents, wind conditions, geological formations, and current ship traffic in a given port, manuevering a 75.000 ton vessel that is barreling into port at 7 knots is risky business. Also, big commercial ships are on tight time schedules and in the shipping industry, time is big money, and if you are a captain you sure don't want to be late.

This is where Port Pilots come in. They are skilled captains who have intimate knowledge of the currents, geology, architecture and current traffic patterns in a given port. Morever, their only motivation in navigating a ship into or out of a port is the ships safety and the safety of the port. That's why in most major seaports it is required for shipping companies to hire port pilots to help their captains navigate into ports. For port pilots to do their jobs, they typically have to board or debark from moving ships a few miles out at sea by climbing up or down a Jacobs ladder which hangs along the side of the ship. Sometimes these ladders are more than 30 feet long and pilots have to climb them while the ship is moving in all kinds of seas at all times of the day. If they are boarding a ship heading into port, pilots are brought to the ship in a small pilot boat that rides along side of the ship where the pilot will have to time his or her leap onto the Jacobs ladder, climb aboard and make his/her way to the bridge to help the captain navigate the ship. When leaving a ship after they helped navigate it out of port, the pilot is picked up by the pilot boat out at sea in which case the pilot climbs down the Jacobs ladder and times his/her leap onto the pilot boat. Obviously leaping onto and off moving ships is a very dangerous business because if a pilot falls, he or she will most likely die as rough seas and the wakes of big ships are very unforgiving.

Pilots are an integral part of the world's seatrade and have been for over 3000 years. They have courage, expert knowledge about the bridge operations of all kinds of big ships, and have intimate knowledge of local waterways and weather conditions.

Tug boats are the work horses of America's seaports. They enable big tankers and cargo ships to slow down when entering port and to park at docks where they can load and unload their cargo. Unlike trucks or trains, big ships don't have brakes for slowing down and stopping, plus most big ships can only move forward or backward on their own power. When big ships enter busy ports, they need the help of tug boats to maneuver within the port and to park in their designated berths. When big ships leave port, they also need tugs to push and pull them out to sea where they can then resume their journeys under their own power.

In addition to providing big ships with manueverability when entering and leaving ports, tugs also serve as a first line of defense in dealing with emergencies that occur in the water at seaports, like fires, oil spills, groundings, etc. Tug boats play a vital role in Americ's seatrade and the captains and crew that run them are very skilled at doing a hard and dangerous job at all hours of the day and night. Just imagine what it must be like for a tug captain, in the dark of the night over rough seas, to attach his/her boat to a 75,000 ton ship that is 3 football fields long, filled with cargo, has no brakes, and is barrelling into land at 5 knots, and your tug is the only thing that can slow the big ship down enough so that you can then push it into a berth that is a few feet wider than the ship is long.

Security has always been a top priorty of American seaports. The tragic events of 9/11/2001 were a sobering reminder of how important America's seaports are to its national security and economic vitality. As a result, America has seen an unprecedented increase in the amount of resources spent on securing its ports. More importantly, America has also seen an unprecedented level of partnership and cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to increase and maintain seaport security requirements. For example, there are 10 different federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in Port Everglades Florida that work together 24/7 to protect the port from terrorist attack and insure that its maritime commerce proceeds in a safe and lawful manner. As you review our gallery of Port Security vessels, think about the important role that law enforcement plays in keeping the goods flowing so that you can continue to maintain your lifestyle.