Insights: As Ships Get Bigger, Pilots Keep Maritime Commerce Flowing

Over 95% of large ocean-going vessels moving in U.S. waterways are under the direction and control of a pilot that is a member of the American Pilots’ Association (APA). The enormous increase in vessel sizes – as much as five times bigger than just twenty years ago – without corresponding expansions of waterways has made the already difficult work of these pilots even more challenging.

APA-member pilots are generally the only U.S. citizen aboard foreign ships moving in the fragile bays, ports, rivers, and lakes that are the lifeline of this country. The pilot boards the ship and takes charge of its navigation and has a duty to prevent it from engaging in unsafe operations. In the U.S., a pilot's overriding obligation is to serve the public interest by protecting the marine environment and port infrastructure while keeping maritime commerce flowing efficiently. The pilot is not a member of the ship's crew. In fact, the U.S. pilotage system of laws and regulations looks to ensure the pilot is insulated from the economic pressures on the shipowner and independent of control by the ship’s master.

Every time a pilot boards a ship, she or he knows that a moment’s inattention, complacency,