Maritime pilots are high-level professionals who have received specialized training to ensure they are local port experts.
Pilots are used primarily when a commercial vessel navigates toward a port that’s often unfamiliar to the captain and crew. These specially trained local experts meet the ship, climb on board and navigate the vessel to its destination.
Pilots are used for container, cargo and cruise ships. They are typically captains with years of experience who participate in hundreds of training trips and pass a rigorous test to become licensed.
Once they become pilots, these elite mariners can earn more than $400,000 a year. But job openings are rare, and these coveted positions typically only open up when someone retires.
Clay Diamond, executive director and general counsel at American Pilots’ Association in Washington, D.C., said the goal of pilotage is to get ships safely in and out of port efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way.
The APA has been the national association of the piloting profession since 1884. Its principal goals are to advocate for piloting standards and training.
Diamond said there are about 1,250 state-licensed pilots who are part of the 50 member groups in the APA. They work with these groups on their internal policies, business practices and rigorous training.
In the U.S., individual states regulate pilotage within their respective ports and waterways. The rationale is that since every port and waterway are different, pilotage is better regulated by state officials familiar with local conditions rather than by a single set of national rules.
That means that pilot training also varies depending on the location.
“For example, in some places you might have a long 100-mile river route. Other places, you’re coming into a congested port like New York or Houston, where it’s not a long river, but it’s a very congested port. So, the training and the apprenticeships are different,” Diamond said.
Many of the pilots in the United States have attended and graduated from one of the six state maritime academies. The rest worked their way up in the industry “through the hawsepipe” and developed the skills and expertise necessary after years working on the water.
Each pilotage group is a little different, but pilots selected for these positions must first complete a multiyear apprenticeship program where they learn from experienced pilots.
“The apprenticeship is the key part of the whole training. It’s anywhere from a couple of years for a senior mariner, to six, seven or eight years for a more junior person that gets in,” Diamond said.
“Then, even once you earn your state pilot license, in most cases, you don’t get a full license that authorizes you to pilot any size ships. You usually start to pilot smaller ships on your own.”It could take another five years before a pilot can take over the larger ships that come into a port, Diamond said.
It is estimated that on the average day, APA member pilots move 4.75 million tons of cargo estimated to be worth $4.9 billion, as well as 41,000 cruise ship passengers.
Capt. Trevor Bozina of the Puget Sound Pilots in Seattle, Wash., grew up sailing, and by the time he was in high school, he was interested in working on the water. He graduated from California State University Maritime Academy in 2006 and decided to pursue a career in the tugboat industry while working his way up to becoming a pilot. He became a maritime pilot trainee in 2018 and a pilot in 2020.
Bozina said his top piece of advice for young people interested in the maritime industry is, “Be a good shipmate, work hard and ask questions.”
“I tell people just keep picking away. Keep on reading, keep moving forward. It can seem like a long way to go,” he said.
“As long as you are working toward that goal, one day you will have everything you need and you’ll say, ‘I have all my commands, I already have all the requirements to sit for an exam,’ and then one day you’ll find yourself on the bridge of a ship as a pilot.”
Technology has advanced over the course of Bozina’s career. In addition to radars and electronic charts, pilots use portable units they bring onboard to improve outcomes.
But that doesn’t relieve pilots from their duties of being constantly observant. Bozina said they still rely heavily on the traditional methods of navigation. In many circumstances, something as small as a certain grouping of trees can tell pilots where they are in their traffic lanes.
“We could have fog, fishing boats that are going through -— you’re mentally engaged for the entire trip,” Bozina said. “The risks are still there. The technology is a tool to help in your decision-making.”
Bozina described being a pilot as rewarding. Members of the Puget Sound Pilots come from diverse maritime backgrounds, he said. Some worked as captains on oceangoing ships, while others came from tugs, ferries, fishing boats and military vessels.
The Puget Sound Pilots were established in 1935 and are members of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots; the International Marine Division of the International Longshoremen’s Association; and the AFL-CIO. Pilots conduct roughly 7,500 ship moves a year within the Puget Sound.
To become a pilot, getting a degree in marine transportation and passing exams to earn a U.S. Coast Guard license are typically the first steps.
The six state maritime academies located in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan and Texas. There is also the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York.
After obtaining the education and license, mariners generally work and build experience on the water for 10 to 12 years before starting the process of becoming a pilot.