Editorial
EDITORIAL APRIL 2008
The last year has seen several investigations into incidents involving pilots and one factor emerging is that frequently there has not been a clear communication between the Pilot and Master as to the intended passage / manoeuvre. Read the rest of this entry »
EDITORIAL JANUARY 2008
The role of the pilot has never been easy to define but generally the Master pilot relationship results in a mutual understanding that works remarkably well considering the number of ship movements that are undertaken without incident throughout the world every day. Read the rest of this entry »
EDITORIAL
In dealing with all the politics and
legislation of pilotage it is easy to lose sight
of the fact that ours is one of the few jobs
left where the basics have remained
relatively unchanged for centuries. Read the rest of this entry »
Captain Colin Vine
CAPTAIN COLIN VINE DSC RD RNR FNI
Colin Frank VINE was born in November 1915 and died in May 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
EDITORIAL 08/07
Editorial
I make no apologies for including another pilotage incident report as the feature this quarter because the very nature of our work means that we have a very high statistical chance of being involved in an incident. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial 04/07
For this month’s feature I have chosen the MAIB report into a collision, grounding and sinking on the Elbe at the entrance to Brunsbuttel locks which subsequently resulted in a further collision with the wreck of the earlier incident. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial 10/06
Editorial
I decided to make e-Navigation the feature for this quarter because I believe that the subject is going to become one of the key issues for debate in the near future and the outcome will inevitably impact on pilotage. Read the rest of this entry »
Editorial 07/06
Editorial
This year has so far been a disastrous one for shipping accidents which has regrettably resulted in an enhancement of public image of shipping as a poorly run and dangerous industry. The run of disasters started on Christmas day 2005 with the grounding of the APL
With no national newspaper or major media outlet having a shipping correspondent, the shipping industry is faced with an uphill battle to portray shipping in a positive light but IMPA are at least attempting to redress the balance. Building on the encouraging response to last year’s World Maritime Day, IMPA President, Geoff Taylor, has been establishing contacts within the general media to hold another event this autumn. Although the programme has yet to be finalised I know that Geoff is hoping to arrange an important international media event and also to get pilots to contact their local media and try to get someone out on a ship. It is in all our interests that we highlight the essential role that shipping plays in everyday life and although I know that Geoff’s catchphrase is “the sound of safety is silence” we should loudly trumpet the essential safety role that pilots play in ensuring that shelves of the retail outlets remain fully stocked. When details of the initiative are finalised, I urge you all to give it your full support.
Editorial 04/06
Editorial
The good news this quarter is that the UKMPA is at last going to be represented within the group Port Skills and Safety Limited (PSSL). PSSL took over from the DfT funded British Ports Industry Training (BPIT) in 2002 and whereas the UKMPA had worked closely with BPIT to produce a comprehensive document detailing National Occupational Standards for Maritime pilots we were not invited to join the port led commercial body of PSSL. It has therefore taken four years of hard work by both Norman McKinney and Les Cate along with members of the Section Committee to finally achieve an invitation to participate on the group’s activities relevant to pilots. The reason that this is important is that PSSL, in conjunction with some nautical colleges, have produced a draft Foundation Degree for ports which will include pilotage and it is therefore essential that pilots are represented. The UKMPA has only one agenda within PSSL and that is safety and we will therefore be using our membership to convince those who may wish to reduce standards that it is in the interests of the whole ports sector that high standards of training and qualifications for pilots are maintained in the interests of ensuring the safety of ships, port infrastructure and reputations!
John Clandillon-Baker
Editorial 01/06
EDITORIAL
It is a rare pleasure for me to open 2006 with some very good news for pilots. On the 18th January the EU Ports Directive was finally defeated in the EU Parliament by an overwhelming vote by MEPs of 532 against, 120 for and 25 abstentions.
Although the defeat was a result of many different groups opposing it, the UKMPA through EMPA had undertaken a highly successful lobbying campaign which had played an important role in bringing about this final defeat of the proposed legislation.
Of course, all of this should have been unnecessary since the MEPs had already thrown the directive out before in November 2003 and it is a sad reflection on the democratic process in the EU that following the initial rejection, the Spanish Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, in a parting gesture of defiance
before she left the Commission, decided to re-present the directive. This resulted in the Commission deciding to ignore the MEP’s vote of rejection and return it to the legislative process. The last two years have therefore seen all the opponents waste much time and resources in re-submitting all their arguments for a second time. Has it gone away for good? Probably not, but the indications are that ports will now be covered by a wider transport directive and it is to be hoped that the lessons of the overwhelming defeat of the Ports Directive will have been noted and the controversial issues of competition in pilotage and self handling will result in these being dropped. Needless to say, the UKMPA and EMPA are monitoring events very closely.
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