TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Who Are The Harbor Pilots Of Tampa Bay?

Tribune photo by JOSEPH BROWN III

Harbor pilot Jorge Viso brings a shipment of petroleum products into Tampa on the cargo vessel Anasazi in December.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2009

The 23 harbor pilots who serve the Port of Tampa were responsible for terminals that handled 43 million tons of cargo and 767,000-plus cruise passengers in fiscal year 2008.

Essentially, harbor pilots are the local experts on bringing ships from the open Gulf waters through a narrow and lengthy channel. Harbor pilots meet incoming ships at all hours on pilot boats at Egmont Key, the beginning of the channel. The next step is a big one — literally. The pilot boat snugs up to the immense incoming vessel, and then the pilot must jump from his or her boat to a rope ladder dangling from the vessel they board, making a climb of sometimes 30 feet or more. From there, the harbor pilot takes control of the ship from the captain, telling the crew what to do to make it safely through the 42-mile channel, the state's longest.

Their job has many hazards, from weather to recreational boaters to the winding channel itself, which is about 200 yards wide with an average depth of about 40 feet, Coast Guard officials have said. The average depth outside the channel is 10 feet. As they bring a ship in or guide it out to sea, pilots have many things to consider: wind, weather, traffic, tides, the port layout, sandbars and reefs, and homeland security issues.

If for some reason the weather makes the trip too hazardous and a pilot cannot make the trip, the port shuts down. If the weather turns after the pilot maneuvers the vessel out to sea, he's in for a long haul; he must stay aboard the boat until it reaches its destination and then fly back home.

It takes years of education and training to become a harbor pilot — they must attend a four-year maritime college or the equivalent from military or maritime service, spend six years working up to a specific officer rating, make a high score on the Florida pilots exam and numerous other requirements before taking over a ship.

What happens if something goes wrong? There are few incidents, considering the thousands of vessels that come and go through Tampa Bay each year. In recent area history, the most destructive and deadly accident was in May 1980, when a 609-foot ship struck the Sunshine Skyway during a blinding storm, killing 35 people. In August 1993, a 400-foot phosphate freighter hit two barges, one carrying jet fuel and the other carrying heavy oil. More than 300,000 gallons of oil spilled into the bay and washed onto area beaches. Even a grounding can create havoc. In October 2002, a grounding clogged traffic through the channel for a day. A freighter carrying limestone was bumped by another vessel into the shallows, where it ran aground about 200 yards west of the Sunshine Skyway. It was the third time in six years in which vessels ran aground in Tampa Bay or near the approaching channel, including an incident in February 1996, when the cruise ship Tropicale ran aground after a harbor pilot with a long record of accidents turned the vessel too sharply and it slid out of a shipping channel.

A dangerous job with such immense responsibility commands a healthy salary. The projected average net income of each of Tampa's certified harbor pilots for 2008 was $262,392, which is $100,000 less than 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. In November, an intense eight-hour debate took place in which the Tampa Bay Pilots Association asked for successive 9 percent, 8 percent and 8 percent rate increases over the next three years. If harbor traffic remained steady, that would increase pay for the top pilots from $262,392 in 2008 to $332,422 in 2011. Instead, a compromise of 3 percent in 2009, taking effect Jan. 1, and 3 percent in 2010 was hammered out.

Q&A: The Harbor Pilots Of Tampa Bay

Why do ship captains need harbor pilots?

Imagine steering a vehicle the length of a cruise ship through interstate traffic, and then imagine parking that vehicle in a tight spot. Those scenarios represent the different skill sets of ship pilots versus harbor pilots. Although ship pilots are experts at directing their vessels through large bodies of water, harbor pilots specialize in navigating the tighter passageways of harbors. They are particularly familiar with the harbor's water levels, traffic and weather.

How do pilots bring a boat in?

Harbor pilots meet incoming ships at all hours. They jump from a smaller, pilot boat onto a ladder attached to the much larger cruise or cargo ship. As the smaller boat heads back to shore, the harbor pilot climbs the ladder, which can be more than 30 feet high, to board the ship. (Bad weather can make this climb pretty scary.) Once the pilot reaches the ship's bridge, he and the captain talk about how they're going to bring the ship in to dock. With an expert knowledge of local waters, the harbor pilot takes control of the ship and gets to work, telling the crew what to do.

What's on a pilot's mind?

Pilots have a lot to think about when they're bringing a ship in or guiding it out to sea. They must consider:

• Winds

• Tides

• Weather patterns

• Ship traffic

• The port's layout

• Sandbars

• Reefs

• Homeland security

What are some of the challenges pilots can face?

Bad weather is bad news for pilots. If a pilot steers a ship out of port but can't get back down the ladder to the pilot boat because of weather, he is in for the long haul. He has to stay on the ship until it reaches its next destination, where he must catch a flight back home.

Curious or careless boaters can be a pilot's nightmare. Just imagine what a 16-foot-long boat looks like in the path of a cruise ship – it's like an ant running in front of an elephant.

Maneuvering among other water traffic takes a lot of concentration. A fender bender can be a lot more dangerous when the two vehicles are massive ships.

What does it take to be a pilot?

• U.S. citizenship

• Training at a four-year maritime college or the equivalent from military or maritime service

• Six years of working up to a specific officer rating

• At least two years' work in a leadership job in merchant service

• A U.S. Coast Guard exam for second officer

• An optional period as chief officer

• A high score on the Florida pilots exam (must be the highest score in the state) to be certified as a deputy pilot

• Appointment to a local pilot training program, which takes two years

• A high score on the state pilots re-examination to be certified as a Florida harbor pilot

One Famous Pilot

Author Samuel L. Clemens' pen name was Mark Twain, which came from his days as a river pilot.

Clemens spent a lot of time on Mississippi riverboats after earning his pilot's license in 1858. Harbor pilots use the term "by the Mark Twain" to refer to the 12-foot mark that indicates where waters are deep enough for most riverboats of Clemens' time.

Pilots' Impact By The Numbers

$50 billion plus in foreign imports and exports go through Florida's ports every year.

120 million tons of cargo go through Florida's ports each year.

15 million passengers come through Florida's ports each year.

800,000 cruise ship passengers travel through the Port of Tampa each year.

$262,392 is the annual pay for top pilots in the Bay area.

41,600 ships are handled by Florida's harbor pilots annually.

1,146 miles of Florida coastline are served by harbor pilots (472 miles of Atlantic coast and 674 miles along the Gulf).

100 harbor pilots are based in the state.

14 major seaports are in Florida.

Report compiled by Katrina Ferreira. Sources: Florida Shipper, www.iseek.org

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT