A method for pile installation wherein use is made of a vessel for pile installation. A pile holding system is mounted to the hull of a vessel, e.g. on deck (2) of a vessel, which pile holding system is configured to hold the pile in an upright orientation at a pile installation location at least whilst suspended from a crane by means of one or more winch driven cables, e.g. for installation of a pile adapted to support an offshore wind turbine, the pile holding system comprises a pile holding tool (40). The pile holding tool (40) further comprises a damping system including at least one damping device (45) that is mounted to the base structure (42) and is configured to, in use, engage on the pile suspended from the crane at a location that is vertically spaced from the circumferential zone that is engaged by the plurality of pile engaging positioning devices (43) of the pile holding tool, and wherein the at least one damping device (45) is configured to dampen pendulum motion of the pile suspended from the crane.