An Independent Professional

Most people involved in the business of shipping cargo are aware that marine pilots are involved in their industry and that they go aboard ships to bring them safely into their berth. Many, however, do not clearly understand what pilots do, or even why they are necessary at all. After all, ships have masters so why don’t they bring their ships in and out of our ports? Why do we have to pay a large fee to engage a pilot when there is already someone on the ship trained to do the job?

 Over the next three issues, I will outline the role of the pilot, the advantages of employing one and discuss why there is the legal requirement for their services has been developed over more than 2000 years.

It should be understood that the rules and regulations that control the operation of pilots vary around the world and what follows is general in nature and differences will occur from port to port and State to State.

 Why is Pilotage compulsory?

Ships, cargos and risk have been associated ever since humans began sailing out into the ocean on ancient vessels. The history of commerce and the economic consequences of shipping casualties soon became apparent as valuable cargos were “lost at sea” particularly when ships neared the coastline and headed into port.

The causes of these disasters and the physical losses of ships and their cargos, and the damage to the marine environment have proven difficult to manage and control. As the value of commerce increased and ships themselves became more expensive and the value of any subsequent loss rose appreciably, then so shippers and ship-owners looked to Governments to develop methods of protecting their investment. Governments determined that marine specialists should be given the task of managing the risk associated with the most difficult and hazardous part of ship’s voyage.

Managing and navigating a ship on a coastal passage or across the ocean requires a different set of skills and experience compared to managing the same ship in a confined waterway. In compulsory pilotage waters, the workload on the bridge increases, the time between error and consequence is reduced and specialised knowledge in ship handling and local conditions are required. In the confined or restricted waters of ports, where the margins of error are small and the activity intense, most States protect their environment and infrastructure by requiring the presence onboard of a properly qualified pilot.

The law has long recognised that people who provide essential services by regulation (such as the law, medicine, and hazardous navigation etc.) need to be properly qualified to undertake their work. Governments have also decided that these services should be compulsory because of the significant risk that can arise if they are not used. For example, government does not allow people other than properly qualified lawyers to represent others in court, or people who are not medically qualified to practice medicine, or an unqualified person to carry out pilotage in a compulsory pilotage area. Regulators have established the relevant law for the protection of the public interest and for no other reason. Pilotage is therefore a form of control over shipping that reduces risk to the environment, the economy and port infrastructure, as well as a service that expedites the flow of shipping and trade.

Who is in Charge?

The ship’s master is an employee of the owner and acts as the manager of a commercial enterprise and is necessarily concerned with the safe operation and the trading success of the ship. These considerations can and do influence their judgment in considering the acceptability or otherwise of risks of the voyage. In other words, commercial pressure sometimes can have an effect on their decision making. At sea, the ship’s master has absolute authority over the ship and its crew, but on entering pilotage waters the legal authority to direct and control the movement of the ship transfers to the pilot. However, the master still retains responsibility for the ship. What unites their relationship is the pilot’s authority can only work in co-operation with the master’s power to command the crew. In order for the ship to transit compulsory pilotage waters, the power of the master and the authority of the pilot must coincide. There must be an agreement between the master and pilot on the acceptability of the intended passage.

The pilot’s primary obligation is not to the ship owner or the master as a service provider, but to the public as represented by the State that created the pilotage law. Many commercial pressures are placed on masters by agents and charterers who may have little shipboard experience or appreciation of the risks involved. The pilot’s future employment should not depend upon how well the ship owner’s interests are satisfied. This freedom from selection and control by the ship owner insulates a pilot from the commercial pressures that could be brought to bear in some form of contractual agreement. It is part of the pilot’s role to act as a buffer to those pressures and as long as the pilot is safeguarded by the pilotage law, the pilot serves a vital function in the public interest. The pilot is at liberty and encouraged to apply independent judgment in pilotage decisions that weigh risks against commercial concerns.

There is a balancing of the interests involved. Ship masters are accountable to the owner and the ship’s flag state for their actions. Pilots are accountable to the pilotage regulator (usually the State) and must take into consideration the State’s interest in maritime safety and the preservation of the environment. In a properly regulated pilotage system there-is an understanding of the need for checks and balances between the master and the pilot and an awareness of their separate and distinct interests on the bridge of a ship. This distinction is important because if the pilot were merely an advisor whose assessment could be accepted or rejected at will the role of an independent judge of acceptable risks could not be fulfilled.

There has always been a tendency in shipping management to ignore the regulatory aspects of pilotage and view it as just another service for hire that should be purchased and controlled in the same way as other services. It should be very clear that there are significant legal obligations on both the ship’s master (and indirectly the ship owner) and the pilot to act in a prescribed manner when in compulsory pilotage waters. There are no choices.

Chris Haley can be contacted on: cwh@ecomaritime.com