Thank you Capt and Mr IACSman..alumunium ladder or jacob ladder some crew call it.
Yes every morning always Chief mate ask me total loaded on board as per belt scale thru CCR.and also some vsl the Chief mate going to wharf check the draft (f/m/a) to compare with shore scale.
No need to stop loading ops while they have interim draft check as long as no big difference in every step sequence.
For lifeboat yes they need terminal or HM permit and normal contacting by VhF or thru agent to do that.If you in anhorage transhipment small boat not safe for draft reading,so Shipper mostly give tug for Surveyor and C/M and that is hard to read if swell condition.and ladder at the midship very useful for reading the draft

@ Husni, it is used for draft survey. With bulkers the charter/operator need to know daily the progress of discharging. and it comes down to money,, in some ports the initial DS is free of boat charges as it is a request of the Receivers, but all following DS,s are costing extra for the boat until the final DS after discharging is completed. Therefore the ladder in the middle to read every morning the midship draft. Looks to me like a modern monkey ladder and thing between simple round bars and regular pilot ladder.

It seems that the ladder is a "monkey" ladder, and not an approved pilot ladder, and by blowing up the picture it seems that a person is indeed on the ladder steps. Many chief mate's do visually check the draft in addition to the remote gauges, this may also be part of the company procedure to do so. This is good seamanship. If terminal does not provide boat (some terminals charge vessel if they want boat), it is custom that crew (vessel) prepare the ladder. Some vessels also may use their seaside lifeboat for this purpose (in combination with a drill), but this again would, normally, need terminal / harbour Master approval.

Hi Sir, just question no offense..why always i see ladder standby some in Australian port and Europe port?probably for Chief officer to check the draft use this ladder.This is Port or terminal instruction or only by ship's side preparation ?
If terminal give boat for check the draft, i think no need to prepare that ladder.As usual 3 times for draft check: 1.before loading,2.interim draft survey for trim and 3.final draft ..tks in advance