Also in this issue I have reviewed the latest Nautical Institute publications on mooring and anchoring. Reading through the pages and looking at the mooring equipment it occurred to me that any officer from the 1880’s turning up in the Tardis would have no problem in mooring or anchoring a modern ship, the equipment is unchanged. The only question that our officer would ask is “Where are the crew?”. Here we are in 2010 with regulations that permit flag states to set the safe manning level for a VLCC at a total of 10 men? I can see our hypothetical officer dashing back to the Tardis!

I cannot believe another year has come and gone and that it is 2010 already.  May I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a healthy and happy new year.

The Secretariat Alternate Trustees

The last quarter of 2009 saw the appointment of a new Alternate Trustee Director.  The Association has appointed Captain Robert Baker, Chief Harbour Master of Forth Ports plc.

Benefit Statements 2009

We are currently in the process of obtaining and confirming year end earnings for active members and should be in a position to send out benefit statements by the end of February.

2010 Pension Increases and Calendars

Just before Christmas all pensioners and widows were sent letters confirming the percentage increase they would be receiving from 1 January 2010, as well as a calendar for the year.  If you have not received yours please let us know at the Secretariat and we will put another in the post.

Pensions Payroll

Although it should not affect pensions in payment, just to let you know, we are doing a parallel run during the January payroll as we are changing our BACs provider and bringing the BACs transmission in-house.  The parallel run should highlight any teething problems so we should be fine when flying solo in February.

Overseas Pensions Payments

The Bank of Scotland has decided to terminate its overseas payment facility (probably due to cost cuts) from 1 January 2010.  So we had to look around for another provider that would not cost an arm and a leg.  No mean feat with so few overseas payments.  The good news is Loretta has found one, the bad news is they could not take us on until March.  This means we are paying January and February by cheque, unless requested to pay into a U.K. bank account.  Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Expression of Wish Forms

Just a brief reminder that active members whose personal circumstances may have changed should review the contents of their Expression of Wish form as they may wish to make a new one.  If so, please let the Secretariat know and a new form will be sent to you for completion.

Pensions 2010

So what can we look forward to in 2010 for pensions on a legal and regulatory front?

Personal Accounts

2010 will be a year of law-making in respect of personal accounts.  Areas likely to be covered are employers’ duties and automatic enrolment, the establishment of a personal accounts scheme as well as a scheme administrator.

State Pensions

There will be changes to the State pension system, in particular, the number of ‘qualifying years’, ie number of years the full National Insurance contribution was paid, required to obtain a full Basic State Pension will drop from 44 years for men, 39 years for women to 30 years for both sexes.

Minimum Pension Age

From 6 April 2010 the earliest age from which a member of a pension scheme may take a pension (other than on ill health grounds), without higher tax charges applying, will rise from age 50 to 55.

Default Retirement Age

The government has announced that 2010 will see a review of the ‘default retirement age’ of 65.  It is expected that this age will either be raised or abolished.

Pre Budget Pledges

Public Sector Pensions

The full liability in respect of the unfunded public sector pensions will be calculated and disclosed for the first time in the 2009/10 ‘Whole Government Accounts’.  These schemes will have employer contributions capped to limit the liability to us, the taxpayers, and high earners are expected to pay more.  In theory, these reforms will save £1bn. a year.

The State Pension

The state pension will rise by 2.5% in April compared to a September Retail Price Index inflation of -1.4%.  Do you think the Government is trying to buy the ‘grey’ voters?

Tax Relief

Individuals who earn more that £130,000 and pay pension contributions of more than £20,000 pa will now be caught by the restrictions on pension tax relief.

In Brief

Equitable Life

Equitable Life will reverse last year’s cuts in policy values and award with-profit holders a 3.5% interim bonus due to improvement in investment returns during the second half of 2009.

Centenarians

The number of people over the age of 100 is set to almost double from 12,000 to 20,000 over the next ten years.  By 2050 the number could soar to 280,000 when the total number of pensioners will be around 16 million compared to 12 million today.

Branding

The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority has renamed personal accounts, following nine months of research.  They will now be known as the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST).  Let us hope these live up to their new name.

Debbie Marten

A second meeting was held in the afternoon and UKMPA Chairman, Joe Wilson, was joined by Don for a one to one meeting with the Ian Timpson. This constructive meeting, again relevant to the DMNB, brought the DfT up to date with the appalling lack of progress over the last 10 years in properly utilising the National Occupation Standards (NOS) and progressing towards the desired national Pilotage Competence Certificate which was supposed to have come into being on 1st January 2010.  Joe and Don provided Ian with anecdotal evidence from members that a Class 1 Certificate of Competency combined with a Pilotage Authorisation is considered to be broadly equivalent to a Master’s degree and emphasised that a pilot’s qualification should therefore be at least equivalent to that standard. It was a pleasure to be able to advise the Dft that last month our Training and Technical committee had completed a review of the NOS. The new team at Port Skills and Safety (PSS) are keen to progress the matter (as we have heard more than once before over the years) but as a result of this meeting with Ian Timpson, the UKMPA should be meeting with PSS soon to determine the specific strategy to be adopted in order to finally bring this outstanding, post Sea Empress, goal to fruition.

George, who died in September 2009 at the age of 97, was the grandson, son, and father of a Liverpool Pilot. Altogether, the family provided a pilot to the port for an unbroken period of nearly 148 years. For a service that has been in existence since 1766, it is quite a remarkable achievement and is a record, one imagines, destined to stay unchallenged.

George joined H.M.S. Conway in 1926 and was selected for the Pilot Service two years later. He did sea time with Lamport & Holt before joining the cutters in 1930, as an apprentice. Three years later, he was awarded the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society’s Silver Medal for bravery. This was for two incidents that took place at the Bar during the previous winter; one for jumping in after a colleague who had fallen overboard and a second for pulling out a trapped apprentice, when the punt had been capsized by a ships belting. George gained his 2^nd Mates Foreign going ticket in 1937, after a second spell deep sea with Henderson’s, and soon after qualified as a 3^rd Class Pilot. In November 1939, in storm conditions, No 1 Pilot cutter grounded on Ainsdale Beach and although 10 were saved, 23 pilots & crew lost their lives. One of those was George’s father, Tom.

Pilots of the war era were remarkable seamen, working in almost impossible conditions during air raids, with little or no lights or communications and having to adapt to the ever increasing convoy system and the huge increase in traffic. Suffice to say that they seldom, if ever, talked about their war, but it is on record that the Liverpool Pilot Service claimed between 200 and 300 lives saved from wrecked and mined ships and many acts of gallantry were performed. In 1953, George was appropriated to Clan Line, a position he held with distinction until retirement in September 1972.  He and his wife Glenda had a wonderfully happy and healthy retirement. Married for over 70 years, he leaves a widow, three children and numerous grand and great grandchildren.

He was a sunny, relaxed colleague, a joy to work alongside and a man who will be sadly missed.

David Hopkinson

Ralph Bird’s coffin being towed through the streets of Truro       Photo: David Barnicoat

Ralph Bird was born of a Cornish family in 1942 in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa. Following the death of his father he spent his first birthday aboard a ship returning to Britain where he was brought up in Cornwall by his mother and his grandfather.

After attending school and technical college he trained as a shipwright through an apprenticeship with Falmouth Boat Construction. Once he had perfected his skills his interest in the traditional Cornish pilot gigs motivated him into dedicating his life to the restoration and preservation of the craft, many of which were lying rotting and abandoned.

In 1981, Ralph, with a handful of other enthusiasts, borrowed a few historic gigs and set up the Truro Three Rivers Race. Within five years, four pilot gig clubs had been established and this led  to the Cornish Pilot Gig Association being formed in 1988 with Ralph as President.The Association  introduced a standard design for all racing gigs and it was agreed that the Treffry should be the gig used for this standard. Built by William Peters in 1838 and owned by the Newquay gig club, Treffry is still  racing today and is considered to be the finest example of the craft.

Between 1986 and 2007, when he retired due to ill health, Ralph built 29 gigs and on  October 6, 2007, in a remarkable feat of logistics, all of these were brought together on the beach at Newquay for the christening and launch of his last gig which he had built for the Porthgain club in Wales. Porthgain named it Ralph Bird in his honour. Despite suffering from cancer, Ralph took an oar on the the Ralph Bird for a pre retirement row around Newquay harbour and all the crews raised their oars in honour of his achievements.

Sadly, Ralph finally lost his battle against cancer and passed away on the 2nd November 2009.

His coffin, draped in the Cornish flag of St Piran, was towed to Truro cathedral aboard the gig William Peters, which he built for Roseland in 1987, and gig rowers formed a guard of honour on the cathedral steps with raised oars as the coffin was carried in. For the service, the cathedral was packed with nearly one thousand people, many wearing their club’s gig colours providing a final tribute to this remarkable man.

Ralph’s remarkable legacy is that there are now 53 affiliated clubs and 141 registered gigs and with other gig builders working to Ralph’s standard continuing the tradition, the sport continues to grow in popularity. The annual World championships held in the Isles of Scilly have attracted teams from London, the Netherlands, France, USA, Australia and the Faeroe Islands. From the first race in 1981 involving three gigs it is now estimated that more than 7,000 people participate in gig racing at more than 300 regattas around the South West each summer. Thousands more enjoy watching these amazing craft in action.

As pilots we all owe a debt of gratitude to Ralph Bird for recognising the importance of these remarkable craft which has ensured the preservation of this important part of pilotage heritage.

JCB

As I predicted in the July issue, the operators of the Cosco Busan, Fleet Managment, have come to an agreement with the prosecutors to make an out of court settlement of a fine rather than face a court case and possible jail term.

The sum agreed of $10m still has to be approved by the judge in December but if, as seems likely, the fine is formally agreed then the settlement will enable Fleet Management to slip away quietly and avoid the glare of publicity that a court case would have generated. So, with the Master and officers of the Cosco Busan (rightly) immune from prosecution as a result of their co-operating with the NTSB investigation, the media and residents of California will be satisfied that justice has been done by putting John Cota behind bars as the criminal responsible for the oil spill.

Although I understand that there were other factors in this case that led John Cota to plead guilty to the pollution charge, was he really guilty of a criminal offence? Although I’m no lawyer, my understanding of criminality is that “the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty”. Based on this criteria, since there is no evidence to suggest that John Cota set sail that day with the deliberate intention of causing a pollution incident to kill an endangered species he isn’t a criminal and shouldn’t be in prison!

Although the media have now moved on, satisfied that the witch hunt has successfully found the guilty party, the Cosco Busan case has already encouraged other environmental legislators to commence criminal proceedings. In Norway the Captain and Third Officer of the vessel Full City are under house arrest charged with criminal gross negligence after the vessel’s anchor flukes broke in a storm and she set onto rocks causing 300 tonnes of bunkers to leak out. Questions over this case obviously need to be answered, but a criminal prosecution? A worrying trend indeed!

The Secretariat

Annual Accounts 2009

We finally managed to get the Trustee’s Annual Report & Accounts for 2009 out to members around the middle of August.  If you have not received a copy, but would like one please let either Loretta or me know.

Additional Voluntary Contributions

Loretta has sent out the additional voluntary contributions renewal to those few members still contributing to the A.V.C.s scheme.  The next step is the annual A.V.C.s benefit statement which we are currently awaiting receipt from Equitable Life and Aviva (aka Norwich Union).

Summary Funding Statement

All of you should have received a copy of the annual funding statement sent out in September.  This has resulted in numerous telephone calls to the Secretariat and pilot trustees from worried members.  I realise that it made less than palatable reading but it contained information that we are required to tell you by statute.  One pensioner even told me it looked like an obituary notice, for which I apologise but my colour copier went on the blink halfway through printing them and I could only use the black print setting as I was up against a deadline.

Change of Address

We have had several instances of returned correspondence and would like to remind members that we are not psychic and if you are changing address please write and tell us your new address.

Early Access to Pensions Lump Sum

In Setting pensions free, the LibDem MP, Steve Webb, presents an argument for extending early access to pensions savings.  He would like members to have the option to take the tax free cash sum early, to clear mortgage arrears, put down a deposit on a house or for a large capital purchase.  This more flexible approach could provide a significant boost to the economy and may even increase the total amount saved.

Expat Pensioners and Widows

If an appeal to the European Court for Human Rights succeeds over 500,000 expatriate pensioners and widows could see their state pension double.  At present expats living in countries where the U.K. does not have a reciprocal social security agreements, such as Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada have had their state pension frozen.

If the appeal to the Grand Chamber is successful, those affected pensioners could see their weekly rate double to £82.05 a week depending on their level of national insurance contribution.  A decision on the appeal should be made by March 2010.

The countries that the U.K. has social security agreements with are: Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Israel, Jamaica, Jersey and Guernsey, Mauritius, Montenegro, Philippines, Serbia, Turkey, USA (whew!) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

News in a Nutshell

Total PPF Levy fixed for 2010/11

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has announced that the total levy for 2010/11 will be £700m, increased in line with wages inflation.

Consultation on Future of MPs’ Pensions

The Senior Salaries Review Board has published a consultation paper on MPs’ pension as a first step to reducing costs.

Pension Deficits at all-time High

The FTSE 100 companies with defined benefit (final salary) pension schemes had a combined deficit of £96bn at mid-July 2009.

Chadwick’s Interim Report

Sir John Chadwick has issued an interim report indicating a more flexible approach will be taken to determine the relative losses of Equitable Life’s policyholders.  They will no longer need to demonstrate that they relied on flawed government information.

Ombudsman Overcomes Case Backlog

The Pensions Ombudsman has managed to reduce his backlog of cases in 2008/09 by around 90% according to his report and accounts for 2008/09.

TPAS copes with Maladministration

In 2008/09 The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) saw a rise in the number of complaints of about 10%.  The main reason for the increase was a 59% rise in complaints about maladministration.

Regulators New Statement on Economy

The Pensions Regulator (tPR) has issued a third statement setting out its position on the current economic volatility.  TPR indicates that it will view favourably flexible approaches in setting recovery plans to reduce deficits.

A Costly Affair

I had to include this item as it appeals to my sense of humour.

According to an extramarital dating website cheating husbands and wives spend massively more on their love affairs that they do on the pensions.  According to the website cheaters spend on average £3500 a year or £291 a month on maintaining the affair, including hotels, phone calls and flowers which is five times more than the average £59 a month spent on pensions (source: Halifax 2009).

It is amazing the articles you can discover in turgid pensions magazines.

Debbie Marten

debbie@pnpf.co.uk

Retirements

May 2009 to July 2009

D. Barnicoat Falmouth

June

G. H. R. Duff Yarmouth

May

S. D. Wood Liverpool

June

Pensioner Deaths

May 2009 to July 2009

L. E. Fane Ipswich

F. I. Forsaith Shoreham

J. J. Frankish London South

J. Hamilton Clyde

T. D. Hettle London T.H.

R. D. McGlashan Forth

E. T. Milford S. E. Wales

A. J. Moore Harwich

P. A. Roberts Dover

J. S. Robertson Clyde

W. G. Wilcox Liverpool

E. F. Williams S. E. Wales

Saturday 13^th June saw 14 traditional barges assemble for the 79^th Thames Sailing Race (or “Match” in sailing barge terms).

PLA pilot Chris Spurling on the helm with skipper Richard Tichener

The Port of London Authority’s (PLA) involvement is crucial to the management of this annual event since much of it takes place in the main shipping channel. VTS monitoring is supplemented by VHF information updates during the Match and further support is provided with moorings and other facilities ashore.  This year’s event coincided with the Centenary of the Port of London Authority and for the third year the PLA chartered the Staysail Class barge Wyvenhoe for the Match.

The Wyvenhoe was skippered by Richard Titchener and crewed entirely by PLA staff, including two PLA pilots, Chris Spurling and Dave Lloyd.  Richard ensured that Dave and Chris were aft at the wheel prior to the race, not just to assist with the main and staysail sheets but also to provide invaluable, up to the minute, “local knowledge” of the tides and depths, which allowed more use of the river.

The day started dry with a light Southerly breeze.  As always there was much manoeuvring of barges in the up-river end of Lower Hope Reach as the different classes of barge tried to keep clear of the start line until it was their turn.  Chris and Dave provided advice as to the best place to hold station above the start line,in order to stay out of the worst of the ebb tide and consequently Wyvenhoe made a good start, crossing the start line about 90 seconds after the gun and was the only barge in its class to avoid a time penalty for prematurely crossing the line.

Having rounded the Sea Reach 4 buoy marking the outer limits of the course, the barge sailed close hauled onto the South shore (staying outside the main channel!).  Although there was less depth here than to the North,  the pilots’ tidal knowledge ensured sufficient under keel clearance to sail without the need for numerous tacking manoeuvres which the barges on the North (leeward) side had to undertake.  This enabled the Wyvenhoe to draw ahead.

In the Lower Hope (Mucking Channel), Chris and Dave calculated how close to the shores the Wyvenhoe could run which again reduced tacking and ensured that the lead over the rest of the field was maintained.

“Steady as she goes”, PLA pilot Dave Lloyd.

A similar tactic was adopted in Gravesend Reach for the home run and at 13.31, the skipper and crew were delighted to be first over the line to win the Champion Staysail Class, followed by Repertor who carried a 15 minute penalty for her false start. The skipper and crew had all worked hard and extremely well as a team to achieve their win.

Tactics discussed as Wyvenhoe draws ahead of Repertor

Following supper at the Three Daws pub in Gravesend the prize giving was held.  Michael Grey, former editor of Lloyd’s List, was on hand to present the trophies and congratulate the owners and their crews.  The “Mainsheetman Trophy” for the best performance in that critical role was awarded to Keith Golding of the Wyvenhoe.  Richard Titchener was awarded “Master of the First Barge Home” and he also won the trophy for “The Master Exhibiting the Best Seamanship in Rounding the Mark”.

The Thames Match had already been running for many years when the PLA started in 1909.  In this centenary year the PLA’s win was a fitting outcome, and congratulations go to all those involved for playing such a great part in preserving such a valuable part of  London’s maritime heritage.

Shelly Spurling

Photos: Chris Spurling’s collection

Another item in this mag. mentioned that Humber ports was intending to get rid of 12 pilots.I find this rather ironic when the Humber did what it did and iradicated a whole service which was self-employed . Those of us who were self-employed tried in vain to point out to pilotage authorities that in times of downturn and the Tyne is suffering due to reduction in Nissan car traffic then ‘no ships means no pay’when your self employed(rather obvious I know)So the new port pilots on the Tyne are quite happy as they are working much less for same pay !!! Maybe my generation were lucky although having to work in Jeddah during the miner’s strike of 83′84 to pay the morgage wasn’t a pleasant experience.

S.S. William M Clarke: Cutter No4 on inspection day. c. 1937

Photo: Liverpool Pilots’ Archives

John Curry’s article on the retirement of Stuart Wood, Geoff Rafferty and John himself marks both a vintage year at Liverpool and nothing less than the end of an era in pilotage, quite possibly throughout the entire world.

Their retirement is the retirement of the last three pilots trained to the highest possible standards in a system of sea-keeping, station-keeping pilot-cutters without any assistance from shore-based launches.

Having left school aged sixteen in 1960 as John explains, he, Stuart and Geoff then served as cadets for about one year deep-sea before joining in 1961 a training-system which was then at its zenith (as it had been since its introduction in 1896) and which began a long process of decline in the following year, 1962. The key to the system was the maintenance of four pilot-cutters, three of which were permanently at sea, with one in dock on stand-by. The three at sea operated in a rotation comprised of one week keeping station at the Mersey Bar (16 miles out of Liverpool), one week keeping station off Point Lynas, Anglesey (a further 36 miles to the west) and one week on tender-duty, sailing daily from Liverpool Landing Stage to the two sea-stations in order to keep the stations properly supplied with pilots. The week on tender-duty (or on-the-run, as it was known colloquially) was served during the middle-week of the three-week rotation, the first and third weeks being served at the Bar and Point Lynas respectively.

The system originated in 1896 when the first four steam-driven pilot-cutters were introduced, replacing a fleet of twelve schooners. As the schooners had been manned on deck entirely by apprentices, the replaced apprentices became the deck-crew of each newly-commissioned steamer, regulated at ten apprentices per pilot-cutter. The system was maintained for the next sixty-six years, largely unchanged through two World Wars, although a fifth steamer was commissioned temporarily between 1915 and 1923. The original four steamers were themselves replaced over the years. By 1961 (when our heroes joined the system and found it ats peak) the fleet comprised one steamer dating from 1937 (a veteran of the Spithead Review of that year) and three diesel-electric pilot-cutters built in 1950, 1953 and 1958. All the cutters were built to the highest specifications, the last three having state-of-the-art gravity davits for the boat-work which formed the essential element of their existence. The cutters were commanded by licensed pilots as Senior Master and Second Master on permanent appointment. The Senior Apprentice (aged about 23) was Mate or Chief Officer of the cutter.

In 1962 the ss William M Clarke, Number 4 Cutter dating from 1937, was sold to the Humber and was replaced by two shore-based launches for tender-duty to the Bar station. The service of the Lynas station was maintained by overland transport. There was no longer a sea-keeping cutter on tender-duty.The oldest diesel-electric cutter (Sir Thomas Brocklebank of 1950) was withdrawn in 1974 upon the development of the modern shore-based station at Point Lynas and the later two (Edmund Gardner, Number 2 of 1953 and Arnet Robinson, Number 3 of 1958) survived in service until 1982 – when the Edmund Gardner became the prime exhibit at Merseyside Marime Museum.

John Curry, Stuart Wood and Geoff Rafferty quite possibly have honour of being the last three pilots anywhere in the world to have trained in such a system and to have served as licensed pilots in a major port while still in their early twenties. There remain of course several pilots in service today who experienced the training-system in its twenty-year decline after 1962,  but no others who had the benefit of the training-system at its peak. As a practical method of training pilots for a major port, it had no equal.

SALUTE TO THE FOUR-BOAT MEN

The last of the Four-Boat men.

The last of the men on the Run.

The red and white Flag, the pea-whistle and bag,

All cruising in Westering sun.

Who cruised through the Winter as well,

Through fog and through storm and through ice,

Who cursed and who swore bloody-hell,

Who served and who didn’t think twice.

For such was their chosen vocation.

Apprenticed in sea, ships and ropes.

In Pilotage. Keeping the Station,

In youth, aspiration and hopes:

For trade and for commerce and living,

For family matters and life.

Accepting the crude unforgiving,

To satisfy Nature and wife.

Each man bore the yoke: or he lost it.

In Pilotage, that is the way.

Professional practice would cost it,

No less than it costs it today.

Salute the Four-Boat men of Mersey,

Serving Liverpool all through her prime:

Apprenticed, in Flag-embossed jersey,

Then Licensed in service sublime.

In passing the yoke now to others,

Old men salute youngsters and then,

Acknowledging  youngsters as brothers,

Salute all the old Four-Boat men.

Barrie Youde