On the Water with Tampa Bay Pilots and BoatEye360

On the Water with Tampa Bay Pilots and BoatEye360

If you boat around Tampa Bay, you’ve probably watched a cargo ship or cruise ship make its way through the channel. What you may not see is the work that goes into guiding that ship safely in and out of port.

Tampa Bay Pilots are a big part of that work. We’re proud to share that BoatEye360 cameras are now running aboard their boats, day and night.

Our video takes a closer look at who Tampa Bay Pilots are, what they do, and our partnership. Take a few minutes to watch it below.

What Tampa Bay Pilots do

The Tampa Bay Pilots Association serves the ports of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Manatee. Its harbor pilots board large commercial ships and guide them through local waters, bringing detailed knowledge of the channels and experience handling ships in tight spaces. The association has been serving Tampa Bay since 1886.

It’s work that continues around the clock. Before a pilot can get to a ship’s bridge, a pilot boat carries them out to the vessel. The crews running those boats are an important part of the operation, getting pilots to and from ships during the day and in the middle of the night.

BoatEye360 aboard their boats

We build marine night vision cameras because seeing what’s ahead matters to anyone on the water. Having our cameras aboard Tampa Bay Pilots’ boats brings that purpose close to home for our team here in Florida.

BoatEye360’s full-color night vision technology uses available light to help boaters see their surroundings in low-light conditions. A camera view can provide useful visual detail alongside radar, charts and a proper lookout. The person at the helm still needs to use all of that information and make the decisions.

A word about night vision

We also want people watching the video to understand how the technology works. These are ultra-low-light cameras. They use light from sources such as the moon, stars and nearby shore lighting to form an image. Conditions that look very dark to our eyes can still have enough light for the camera to work with.

Thank you to Tampa Bay Pilots

Thank you to the Tampa Bay Pilots team for sharing your work with us and for everything you do on our local waterways. We appreciate the opportunity to be part of it.

Have a question about using BoatEye360 on your own boat? Get in touch with us. We’re happy to talk through your setup and what to expect on the water.