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Ship Pilots' Proposed Pay Hike Stirs Waves

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By JACOB SCHNEIDER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

TAMPA - The vast Tampa Bay includes more than 90 nautical miles of channels that likely would be unnavigable without the help of harbor pilots.

But a dramatic pay raise proposal has them and the shippers they serve at odds about how much their service is worth during tough economic times.

A parade of shippers, cruise ship operators and Tampa port officials told a state investigator Wednesday that a proposed 27 percent pay hike for Tampa Bay harbor pilots would have a dampening effect on an industry already hurting. But the pilots maintained that they, too, need to raise fees to keep pace with the troubled economy.

The debate was sparked by an application submitted to the state in May by the Tampa Bay Pilots Association to boost the fees that harbor pilots charge to guide large ships to and from the Port of Tampa in the next three years.

Both port users and pilots attended the public meeting, held by an investigator for the state Pilotage Rate Review Board at the Marriott Waterside. The testimony was dominated by shipping and cruise line operators. They said that higher pilot fees could be the catalyst that forces them to consider moving their operations to other ports.

"The cruise industry is facing unprecedented times as we are facing historical fuel prices," said Matthew Sams, vice president of Holland America line, which operates Caribbean cruises out of Tampa. "As in any business, the cruise lines look at the bottom line and the cost of business port to port."

The cruise operators said pilotage rates at the Port of Tampa are as much as 50 percent higher than comparable ports in Florida and on the Gulf of Mexico, making operating in the port prohibitively expensive.

But the pilots argue that the cost is justified given the 42 miles that ships have to travel between the mouth of Tampa Bay and the port, a voyage that can take as long as 8 hours. Their application cites fuel costs, rising prices and the difficulty of attracting qualified pilots to Tampa as additional reasons to raise the rate.

Allen Thompson, executive director of the pilots association, said half the hazardous goods and petroleum shipped through Florida come in and out of Tampa.

"If we didn't think that the rate increase was necessary, we wouldn't put it in. We think it's a just, fair and reasonable request," Thompson said.

The pilots, who undergo years of training to receive their license from the state, meet vessels at the mouth of Tampa Bay and safely pilot them in and out of the port.

This year, the projected average net income of each of Tampa's 18 certified harbor pilots is $262,392. Although that sounds like a healthy salary, it's $100,000 less since 2006 because of lighter harbor traffic amid the slumping economy. Harbor pilots are paid by the ship at rates that depend on the size of the boat and the tonnage of its cargo. Under the pilots' proposal, the average take is projected to increase to $333,422 in 2011 if business remains constant.
Tampa port director Richard Wainio said the port projects business to pick up again in the next three years. If business rebounds as expected, pilot salaries consequently would increase without requiring a higher salary now.

He also accused the pilots of "double dipping" by citing fuel costs as a reason to raise fees even as they propose a separate fuel surcharge.

Though Wainio lauded the "integral and essential" role that harbor pilots play at the port, he said they are letting down their community.

"The timing of the proposed increases coupled with the magnitude of the proposed increases could not be worse," he said.

The rate-review board investigator, Tallahassee accountant Richard Law, will prepare a report for the board, which will hold a hearing on the issue in the next several weeks.

The pilotage rate for the Port of Tampa was last adjusted in 2002.

Reporter Jacob Schneider can be reached at (813) 259-7850 or jschneider@tampatrib.com.

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