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Letters
Your Insurances
In the course of the many telephone conversations which I have with Pilots, it is often apparent that they are unsure as to exactly what cover they are paying for. Read the rest of this entry »
Blame & Shame. Letter to Lloyd’s List, Steve Pelecanos
Blame and shame is really just a wasted opportunity
By pure coincidence, at the same time as Dave Williamson wrote his thought provoking article (Pilots under siege?) a letter appeared in Lloyd’s List written by IMPA Vice President and head of standards and training at the Australian Marine Pilots Association (AMPA), Steve Pelecanos which serves to underline the issues currently being debated by the UKMPA Read the rest of this entry »
PILOTS UNDER SIEGE?
Never before has the profession of the Maritime Pilot been subject to such trials and tribulations. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter: Squat
I am a retired Humber pilot and was interested to read the two articles in the January issue on Bridge Visibility and Squat. Read the rest of this entry »
LETTER FROM BELFAST
Dear Editor.
In light of the usual doom and gloom we encounter regularly as part of our job lot as a pilot I would like, on behalf of Belfast Pilots, to present an update on a good news story. Read the rest of this entry »
Trustees, Ray Eades
Dear Sir,
May I congratulate Richard Williamson on his excellent article in the Pilot No 288 where he explains with admirable clarity the responsibilities of Trustees? Read the rest of this entry »
Letter: 21st Century UKMPA
UKMPA – The Future?
It was with great interest I read John’s latest editorial in the January edition concerning the last ten years of pilotage in the UK and the predications for the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter, Y-tronics
Y-tronics :Letter
Dear Sir
Having read the article by Ed Neale in the October Pilot magazine concerning Ytronic Bluetooth AIS, I felt that the following would be of benefit to fellow pilots. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter : Self Employment
LETTER
As a pilot who is now approaching his 40th year in the profession (May 24th this year) and who will retire at the end of the year I feel it incumbent upon me to express my own personal feelings for the future of our profession. It has long been my belief that self-employment is the ONLY way ahead for pilotage in the UK, this belief being strengthened by my experience of having been employed twice during my time as a pilot with the majority of my career spent as self-employed. My first spell of employment was for a period of 2 years whilst on secondment from my home port Liverpool to ALCOA in Port Kamsar, Republic of Guinea in West Africa and the second period was back home in Liverpool following the 1987 Pilotage Act as an employee of the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company. This lasted for a period of 9 years whence we finally negotiated a return to our previous self-employed status.
I can say with my hand on my heart that the 9 years I spent in employment were the unhappiest in my career and which resulted in our Pilot Service reaching a position of rock bottom both in our remuneration and status as professionals. Happily I can report that since our return to self-employment in 1997 our status, remuneration and most of all our relationship with the Harbour Authority and its customers has improved beyond all recognition. I can equally say that the last 9 years in self-employment have been the happiest I have ever spent as a pilot and I believe that this feeling is largely shared by my fellow Liverpool Pilots. Comparisons between ourselves and shore-based personnel are now a thing of the distant past and rightly so. A Pilot is by definition “An independent professional person” who, whilst he is on board a ship, is the servant of the ship-owner (not the ships master as I have seen quoted) and is given the conduct of that vessel by the master. Lord Jauncey in his Judgement in the Cavendish Report following an incident involving a PLA pilot created case law when he stated that the 1987 Pilotage Act did not alter the status of a pilot as an independent professional person whether he be in the employ of the CHA or not.
It is my own personal belief that the 1987 Pilotage Act has seriously undermined the position of pilots in the UK and since the simultaneous dismissal of 136 highly experienced pilots on the number in January 2002 the number of employed pilots in the UK is now well in excess of those that are self-employed. The present government’s policy still remains that they would like to see all UK pilots in the employment of their respective CHAs apparently on the grounds that “they would be more accountable”. My own experience has shown that self employed pilots are no less accountable than their employed counterparts and if anything seem to enjoy a higher level of respect from their own authorities.
In closing I would like to say that those who know me are aware of how passionately I feel about self-employment and I hope that this letter goes some way to explaining why I have vehemently opposed those civil servants who have attempted to implement present government policy and reverse what we have achieved in Liverpool. Their policies are the exact opposite of what I feel should be happening. As a member of the Section Committee of the UKMPA I would like to make it dear that the views I have expressed are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the committee or of my fellow Liverpool Pilots.
Dave Devey, Liverpool Pilot
Letter from past Editor
Letter from the past editor!
Without a doubt acronymic mania has invaded the world and the maritime administrators have not been left behind. Not to be outdone our Editor has latched on to this trait with a vengeance and the last two issues of The Pilot were humdingers. As a grey-beard and ex-editor of the magazine I reckon he saved about 2 pages by using the dreaded acronym. But is he missing a trick? I know he is wonderfully computer literate and I’m sure is a wiz kid at text messaging. Combine the two and The Pilot could become a mini tabloid and save all the large envelopes! We could even have a text greetings column, on my behalf my grandchildren suggested: “It wz gd 2 hear my mate I.E. frm MH(rtd) is stil wth us. Yak e da taf The recipient will instantly understand this!
To help the elderly could the Editor either spell out the acronym when first mentioned or give us an acronymic dictionary on the back page.
John Godden
Oh dear, wrists well and truly sore from this! It is always difficult to decide which acronyms to spell out and which can be left. I generally assume that the common maritime ones such as MCA, MAIB etc are known to all our readers but some, which are recognized by working pilots such as PMSC (Port Marine Safety Code) and NOS (National Occupational Standards) may be less recognized by retired pilots. I promise to be more considerate in the future. This does of course mean that there may be less space for my words of wisdom! Did I hear “thank goodness for that”??
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