Original Article by La Voz de Galicia Sa / Pablo Portables
We chatted on Monday afternoon, the eve of October 12. "When you work shifts, you don't take holidays into account and don't worry about when they are. We pilots do 73 shifts a year. Tomorrow it's my turn. I'm used to it. I work 24 hours and I get off the next four days. That's why there are five of us. If a seaman or a skipper is on sick leave, it is possible to find a replacement, but replacing a pilot is complicated," Walter del Río Corbeira analyzes. He is 47 years old (he will be 48 on Halloween), father of two children aged 15 and 12, and grew up in Agra do Orzán. "Although there is no tradition in my family, I always wanted to be a sailor. I studied at the Monte das Moas high school, and before that at the Emilia Pardo Bazán school. I remember riding the bus around Gran Canaria and passing by Nautica, where I finally ended up," he recalls. His first trip as a trainee student was to the Gulf of Guinea on a merchant ship carrying tropical timber. "We left from Pasajes. I remember it perfectly," emphasizes the senior pilot. "In A Coruña, the one who has been there the longest has this position. In other ports, such as Barcelona, there are elections. You could say that I represent the company in meetings with the Port Authority, among other things," explains Walter, who orders a decaffeinated coffee with milk.
We chatted on Monday afternoon, the eve of October 12. "When you work shifts, you don't take holidays into account and don't worry about when they are. We pilots do 73 shifts a year. Tomorrow it's my turn. I'm used to it. I work 24 hours and I get off the next four days. That's why there are five of us. If a seaman or a skipper is on sick leave, it is possible to find a replacement, but replacing a pilot is complicated," Walter del Río Corbeira analyzes. He is 47 years old (he will be 48 on Halloween), father of two children aged 15 and 12, and grew up in Agra do Orzán. "Although there is no tradition in my family, I always wanted to be a sailor. I studied at the Monte das Moas high school, and before that at the Emilia Pardo Bazán school. I remember riding the bus around Gran Canaria and passing by Nautica, where I finally ended up," he recalls. His first trip as a trainee student was to the Gulf of Guinea on a merchant ship carrying tropical timber. "We left from Pasajes. I remember it perfectly," emphasizes the senior pilot. "In A Coruña, the one who has been there the longest has this position. In other ports, such as Barcelona, there are elections. You could say that I represent the company in meetings with the Port Authority, among other things," explains Walter, who orders a decaffeinated coffee with milk.
