The helicopter’s propellers look as if they might slice the ship’s mast at any second, but the pilot’s skill is deft as the winchman steadily lowers the marine pilot down towards the still blue ocean and onto the deck of a foreign cargo ship, where crew and captain await their expert guide.

Once on board, marine pilot Graham Mannall greets the officer, who guides him to the bridge of the ship, where he meets the captain and gets to work piloting the vessel safely into the correct berth in Durban Port. There, it will offload its cargo before requiring the skills of a marine pilot again to guide it safely through the harbour mouth and out to sea.

Mannall, 70, is one of a few retired marine pilots who have been called into service by the National Port Authority, to assist in the port and to mentor aspiring young pilots. As a marine pilot, he is an expert who controls ships in busy harbours and confined waterways. He is familiar with his particular waterway and has the skill to guide large modern ships safely to port.

Marine pilots are land-based specialists, who must also fulfil shore-based duties, including paperwork, updating harbour charts and deciding on the position-ing of buoys to mark navigational channels. The profession, a high point of a mariner’s career, requires qualifications and skills that can be applied globally.

A love for the ocean, a respect for its moods and the ability to stay calm, decisive and in control when stormy seas stretch the nerves of even the most seaworthy officers, are among traits required by marine pilots, according to Mannall.

Mannall’s desire to be a mariner was sparked as a boy growing up in England. “I went to sea as a cadet in the late 1950s, and worked my way up to class one or a master’s certificate,

chief officer (the captain’s right hand). I joined the South African Railways and Harbours as first mate on the old twin screw steam tugs, in 1968. I worked my way from the old steamboats to the modern ones we have today. In those days, you had to go to the tugs, but they’ve condensed everything now,” Mannall says. He has, however, had no trouble adapting to change.

Mannall relies on his excellent eyesight (pilots have to undergo an eye test by the South African Maritime Safety Authority), his experience, theoretical understanding and knowledge of weather conditions - like the wind and tidal swells, which, left unchecked, could send a ship crashing into the side of the quayside, or into another ship. “Ships are getting bigger and bigger and some are now 300 metres long and 40 metres wide. It’s like driving down the road and, all of a sudden, when there are swells, it gets like a bumpy road and the ship sways from side to side. You have to stay relaxed, because you can’t have a pilot who is a nervous type, but someone who gives you a feeling of assurance and that you’re in safe hands,” says Mannall.

He pilots three to four ships a day, spending between one and a half and two hours on each assignment. “I enjoy the job, because it’s so different. I get onto a different ship all the time and get out of the office. On a sunny day it’s glorious to fly out there, get on a ship and meet the captain,” he grins.

Apart from his seafaring skills, Mannall also has a friendly, gentle and polite disposition – character-istics which make him a worthy ambassador as the first South African the ship’s captain meets upon arrival, enabling him to leave a good first impression of the country before the crew even sets foot on our African soil.

Lyse Comins