Marine Pilot
Become: Marine Pilot
To become a Pilot you will need to have spent a few yesrs at sea ordinarily after following a deck cadet-ship and undertaken further professional development. In some areas you can follow a direct pilotage scheme but sea experience is always an advantage.
About: Marine Pilot
There are two types of Marine Pilot. Some travel vast distances between ports or may call at several ports over a few days, this type of Marine Pilot is known as a Deep Sea Pilot. Their role is to take the pressure off Ships Masters (Captains), allowing the Master to get adequate rest between ports. They act as Local Guides in waters the Master may be unfamiliar with.
The second type of Marine Pilot advises the Master whilst the vessel moves safely around the Port, sometimes knownn as Harbour Pilots. Shifts can vary for both types of pilots but generally you will complete one or two jobs per day and often do one day on and one day off as a rotation. The work is 24 hours a day and can often mean bringing a ship into port in the dead of night.
Case Study
Name: Neil Dunn Age: Job role: Marine Pilot Company: Southampton Port Company website: http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/ Qualifications Required: Deck Officer Qualifications Average Position Salary: £40,000+
I am currently a Containership Specialist piloting some of the Worlds largest ships, longer than 3 football pitches (more than 360m to a maximum of 400m).
I do not lead the vessels using a small orange launch, I use the launch as a water taxi, often spending 40 minutes on the water before I reach the vessel I am to pilot. Once there, I climb up the side of the ship using a rope ladder. Sometimes this can be quite hairy, particularly if the climb is long and the weather is not that good.
Once aboard I offer the Master advise in relation to direction to steer, speed requirements and other marine traffic likely to be met on the passage to the berth, together with tug requirements and expected weather, this information is given to the Master using a Passage Plan. I am liaison between the Master and the Port, I communicate with Port Control (VTS), other ships/pilots and tugs (should we need them, not all ships do!).
Once safely berthed (tied up alongside) I leave the vessel ready to pilot the next one. Or I may sail the vessel from the Port of Southampton out to the Nab Tower, exit of the Solent but start of the English Channel. I work 24 hour shifts, and on average will pilot 3 vessels during that time; according to size and type, it can take anything from 2 to 7 hours per ship.
It is not an easy journey becoming a Marine Pilot, you have to study hard and sail on a variety of vessels in a Senior role before you will be considered.
I started as a Cadet in 1986 having gained ‘A’ Levels at Sixth Form. Others cadets joined with GCSE’s (5 are required and must include Maths). It took three years to gain my first Certificate and a further 6 years to gain my Masters (Unlimited) Certificate or to put it another way, it took me 9 years to get qualified as a Captain. During that time I did a sandwich course spread between college and travelling around the World.
Once qualified I served as Junior Officer on a variety of ships ranging from general cargo ships (carrying anything anywhere), containerships,LNG tankers and oil tankers before joining P&O as a Watch-keeping Officer based in Portsmouth. I rose through the ranks to become Master of large Passenger ferries trading between the UK and Europe. My final position was as Master on a 91m High Speed Catamaran travelling at 40knots between Portsmouth and Cherbourg whilst carrying 900 people and 200 cars. Great fun!
At times it seemed like a holiday seeing all the Pacific Islands, Australia, Far East and travelling through both the Suez & Panama Canal (three times before I was 21). It’s not all plain sailing though, the loneliness (even amongst 20 other people) and boredom can be difficult to handle. Not all ships have internet access or telephones and sometimes the vessel can berth 20 miles from the cities. Depending on which Company you apply to join directly affects where you will travel: cruise liners tend to go to ports close to city centres. Oil tankers will be further out but time in port is longer (on larger ships anyway). Containerships trade all over the world but again the terminals are further from the cities. Some of you will love passengers, others will enjoy the more physical side of seafaring on tankers or containerships. There are lots of choices out there, you need to contact your Careers Officers or the Maritime Colleges around the UK (there are several on google) or apply to shipping Companies direct.