Wandelaar-Pilot

The 'Wandelaar' proceeded from Oostend to Antwerp on Aug 29, 2025, with the tug 'VB Kodiak' (IMO: 9397119) on standby s a precaution, in order to get the broken port side rudder replaced and for engine repairs in drydock at the EDR Antwerp Shipyard. Completing the dry-docking before the scheduled end date of Oct 10 was expected to be a challenge due to the additional damage repairs. It was not yet known how the damage to the rudder occurred. The damage was being investigated after the 'Wandelaar' entered the dry dock. The ship was working on the Wandelaar pilot station from which pilots are brought aboard seagoing vessels in the North Sea and the Scheldt estuary with four tender swaths. Two of the four swaths are currently operational; one is scheduled for drydocking at the shipyard IDP Shipyard in Ostend, and one is standing by as a backup. The MDK launched the tender last month, which will ultimately result in four replacement vessels. Photo: https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2025/09/03/moederschip-vlaamse-loodsdienst-minimaal-anderhalve-maand-op-het-droge/

A pilot and two crew members of a speedboat of the "Wandelaar" landed in the sea in the morning of Dec 10, 2018, at 5 a.m. at the height of the "Wandelaar". They were rescued from the water by their colleagues, and transported by helicopter to the AZ Sint-Jan hspital in Bruges. The "Sirius" along with several other ships was on the spot in an attempt to save the capsized speedboat.

On Jan 11, 2018, at 12.45 p.m. the cargo m/v "Elke W", enroute from Southampton, where she had sailed on Jan 10, to Antwerp was in collision with the "Wandelaar Pilot", about 11 miles off the coast of Ostend in the Northsea. The accident happened when the "Wandelaar Pilot" made a maneuver to drop off a pilot. There were six crew members on board the "Elke W" who remained unharmed, just like the "Wandelaar Pilot"'s crew. Both ships suffered damage above the waterline. After an inspecton on open sea both ships headed to port. The "Wandelaar Pilot" was to be surveyed in Ostend and berthed at the Wandelaar Quay at 4 p.m., while the "Elke W" headed to Flushing for a thorough survey.