Allen Garfinkle — The Making of a Bay Pilot | 8/7/2019

The article was written by Allen Garfinkle, Executive Director – Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun

Among the few marine professions that purse a man's technical skills and value very high, maritime piloting perhaps is in a class of its own. In this career, the pilot is entrusted to maneuver vessels through some of the most challenging and congested waterways while ensuring seamless integration between shipboard operations and port infrastructure.

The individual pilot operates as part of a pilotage organisation. And, as with so many things, the whole is (much) more than the sum of the parts ...

Roberta Cotta and Teresa Matarese are the only two women in the Italian Federation of Harbour Pilots (Fedepiloti) team of 212 professionals.

From home to work.

How do marine pilots work? Example: Bringing a bulkcarrier alongside to „Hansaport“ in Hamburg. Here the tugboats „Prompt“, „Resolute“ and „Bulldog“ are involved. The master has to rely on the pilot. One reason is, that he can‘t know how to deal with these tugs. A maneuver like this is only safe, when the pilot has a lot of practical experience. A master who is doing a maneuver like this only about once or twice a month and each time with tugs he doesn’t know in areas he hasn’t been to...

Following engagement with the New Zealand Maritime Pilots Association President, Steve
Banks, the following information is intended to provide guidance to support New Zealand’s
Maritime Pilots to carry out their critical functions.

River Bann pilots transfer from Athos to pilot vessel Ulidia at Barmouth, River Bann. N. Ireland

Earlier this year ABP announced an investment of around £9 million to build nine new pilot boats. These vessels were ordered from Goodchild Marine Services Limited and are being built in Norfolk along with much of the supply chain coming from East Anglian suppliers.