europilots-page12

........... If you have any questions please scroll down to the end of this page ...........

We normally board ships by pilot boat off Brixham, Devon
or Cherbourg, France. We can also board a ship while
she is in any port in Northern Europe.

Q.2. What size of ships do Deep Sea Pilots work on?

We pilot any size of vessel from a tug and tow, small reefer ships of 5,000 tons and a speed of 19 knots right up to the largest container ships and tankers. These tankers can be as much as 400,000 tons deadweight and about 350 metres long. Some container ships carry 5,000 containers at a speed of 23 knots or more.

We used to operate from the English Channel, through the whole of the North Sea and into the Baltic as far as Leningrad (St.Petersburg). Nowadays we only work in the North Sea as far as Gothenburg. The Baltic Pilots work in the Kattegat, the Sound and the Baltic............................................A radar scan of the Dover Straits .................................................

We are supposed only to spend 12 hours on duty and have a rest "when it is safe and practicable" to leave the bridge of the ship. In actual fact we regularly work many more hours than this, sometimes up to 18 hours non-stop, depending upon the area the ship is in, the density of traffic and the weather conditions.

This depends upon how busy we are i.e. how many ships have requested a Deep Sea Pilot. On an average we have about three days at home between ships but this can vary between one day up to ten days at home.

No, we get paid for the number of ships we pilot. We charge per nautical mile so the more distance we cover on a ship the more money we get. We earn more per hour on a faster ship than a slower ship, but being on a faster ship requires more concentration. At the end of the month we pool the money earned and then share it out equally amongst all the pilots. If we all do less work we all get less money.

Q.7. When a Deep Sea Pilot boards a ship how long does he stay on that ship?

Sometimes we pilot a ship from Brixham to Rotterdam which takes about twenty-four hours. On the other hand we could pilot a ship onward from Rotterdam to Hamburg, Felixstowe and Le Havre which may take a week or more. On some ships, like big car carriers, which visit many ports, we could be on board up to two weeks.

Q.8. How much notice does a Deep Sea Pilot have when he has to board a ship?

Normally we get about 24/48 hours notice but occasionally we have to pack a bag quickly and get on a train. Some of our pilots live very near an airport - Gatwick or Heathrow - and they sometimes have to get to the airport with just a couple of hours notice.

A big tanker, in loaded condition, if you just stop the engines, will eventually come to a stop after about six or seven miles. It is possible, using the rudder and the engine, to stop a big tanker from full speed within two miles.

No. The Captain is always in charge and always responsible. The Pilot is on board to give the Captain the benefit of his local knowledge. Normally when a ship is visiting many ports in Northern Europe the Captain gets tired but feels confident in handing over the ship to the Deep Sea Pilot while he takes a well needed rest before reaching the next port.

Candidates for the Trinity House examination for a Deep Sea Certificate shall have attained the age of at least 35 years and have at least 3 years experience as Master or First Officer while holding their Master Mariners Class 1 Certificate of Competency or equivalent including at least one year's sea time in command as Master.

In the UK the Licencing Authority is Trinity House. There are three Trinity Houses in England - London, Hull and Newcastle. Their Deep Sea Pilotage sections deal solely with the examination of Deep Sea Pilots. They are not concerned with the conditions or welfare of Deep Sea Pilots and are not involved in Deep Sea Pilotage charges/tarifs. They are also the body responsible for the maintenance of all the lighthouses, buoyage and navigation marks around the shores of the UK.

We work mainly on non-European ships from China, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, T'aiwan, U.S.A.

Q.14. Do Deep Sea Pilots have a communication/language problem on board foreign ships?

Normally most ship's officers and crew understand English when it is used in reference to a ship i.e. engine orders or helm orders. We have to be careful when we pilot American ships because their helm orders are given as 'left' and 'right' instead of 'port' and 'starboard'.

Some years ago Europilots had a meeting with the Department of Transport on this subject. The Department's attitude was that, because the Dover Strait is classed as International waters, it would be very difficult to impose compulsory Deep Sea Pilotage because foreign flag vessels (i.e. non- French or British) would insist on their 'right of innocent passage'. However the Department did say to Europilots that "if the French Authorities think that Compulsory Deep Sea Pilotage is a good idea then there may be some basis for [starting] discussions." We then asked our French colleagues to contact the French Department of Transport whose response was "if the British Authorities think that Compulsory Deep Sea Pilotage is a good idea then there may be some basis for [starting] discussions."
Some years later, in a unsigned letter to the Donaldson Enquiry, the Ports Division of the Department of Transport stated that "The Department is not aware of any water around the United Kingdom, outside harbours and regularly used by shipping, where the risk of collision/grounding is high and where the compulsory requirement for a pilot would be likely to reduce that risk". The content of this letter was included in a report to the Donaldson Enquiry.
The result of this is that safety in one of the busiest, most crowded and eco-sensitive stretches of water in the world - an area where there many localised patches of shoal water where ships could so easily run aground - is governed solely by financial considerations. There are pilots available at any time, for the Dover Strait and Southern North Sea, but they are used only on a voluntary basis by the more safety-conscious Shipowners and Masters.

Extract from The Donaldson Report entitled "Safer Ships Cleaner Seas".
[Page 183 Compulsory Deep Sea Pilotage - Section 13.66]

Q.17. Is shipping in the Dover Strait under the control of a shore based traffic supervisor like Air Traffic Control?
No. Shipping in the Dover Strait is under continual radar surveillance by the Channel Navigation Information Service (C.N.I.S. ) but the C.N.I.S. does not 'control' shipping in any way.

Q.18. If a Captain can take his ship all over the world then why does he need to take a Deep Sea Pilot?

Q.19. What is the difference between a Deep Sea Pilot and a North Sea Pilot?

A Deep Sea Pilot is the general term applied to a person who conducts vessels between ports - either in the North Sea or the Baltic.
Deep Sea Pilots are divided into two categories - North Sea Pilots and Baltic Pilots
A North Sea Pilot is a Deep Sea Pilot who conducts vessels in the North Sea only ( not the Baltic)
A Baltic Pilot is a Deep Sea Pilot who conducts vessels in the Baltic Sea only ( not the North Sea).

The photo at the top of this page is reproduced by kind permission of Nick Gout (Torbay & Brixham Shipping Agency)