Pilot Ladders as per Latest MED/USCG Approved

State the length needed to reach the water at the lightest draft, the step type, whether a retrieval line, spreader steps and securing arrangement are required, and the approval wanted (MED wheel mark, USCG or flag). Ask for the manufacturer’s certificate and the date of manufacture: under IMO guidance a pilot ladder should be certified by the manufacturer as meeting A.1045 or an acceptable international standard such as ISO 799.^[2]

Check the build against A.1045: hardwood steps in one piece and free of knots (the four lowest may be rubber), not less than 400 mm between side ropes, 115 mm wide and 25 mm deep, equally spaced 310–350 mm apart; side ropes two uncovered ropes each side of not less than 18 mm diameter with a breaking strength of at least 24 kN per rope; spreader steps of at least 1.8 m on ladders of more than five steps, the lowest being the fifth step from the bottom.^[2]

SOLAS regulation V/23 has been amended (resolution MSC.572(110)) to make performance standards for pilot transfer arrangements mandatory. The standards, adopted as MSC.576(110), take effect on 1 January 2028; under them pilot ladders and manropes are type-approved by the Administration.^[3]

Under MSC.576(110), pilot ladders and manropes, including spares, are removed from service when they no longer comply, or within 36 months of manufacture or 30 months of being placed in service, whichever comes first. Repair or replacement of steps or spreader steps is prohibited, and at least one spare ladder and one spare set of manropes are carried.^[3]

Until then, A.1045(27) allows no more than two replacement steps secured by a method different from the original construction, to be replaced by original-method steps as soon as reasonably practicable.^[2]