Marine Pilot

Experience the pilot disembarking. Subject vessel 180,000 DWT bulker in Kokkola, Finland, with more than 11 meters freeboard. Copyright: Finnpilot Pilotage

There are approximately 160 Columbia River Pilots, which are organized into two associations. The Columbia River Pilots Association (CRPA) is made up of 80 pilots, while the Washington Pilots Association (WPA) consists of 80 pilots.

The Arctic magnetic pole does not move anymore. It runs, faster and faster. In recent years, even faster than expected. Therefore, geo-researchers have now had an unscheduled change to their world model and adjust their calculations, so that navigation with compass and other navigation aids such as a Pilot Plug, used by pilots around the world, continue to work.

In August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Formosabulk Clement diverted to Brisbane, Queensland for crew change, to be completed to/from a launch via the combination pilot ladder. At the time, Queensland was the easiest jurisdiction in Australia for ships to conduct crew change due to the State’s extensive quarantine arrangements for transporting and accommodating seafarers.

"No day is the same, and this is what makes the job so interesting.
ANGUS MACAULAY
Pilot, Montrose Port Authority

Our marine pilots need to be ready for all of the elements of the high seas. Watch the pilots put their their paces in the virtual reality setting of the Queensland Government's SmartShip Simulator.

Poseidon Sea Pilots, which will start operating in the Port of Brisbane in January, will be based at Mooloolaba, Redcliffe and Brisbane.

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”