Pilotage

Pilotage is the use of a specialist with intimate local knowledge to guide a ship safely through waters where general navigational skill alone is not enough. A marine pilot boards the vessel (usually from a pilot boat off the port, sometimes by helicopter) and joins the bridge team to advise on the navigation and handling of the ship through the approach channels, harbour, river or canal. The pilot brings detailed, current knowledge of the local depths, tides and currents, traffic, berths and hazards that no visiting master could match, and this expertise greatly reduces the risk of grounding or collision in these demanding waters.

In most major ports and difficult waterways pilotage is compulsory: ships above a certain size must take a pilot, and only vessels whose masters hold a pilotage exemption certificate for that port, earned through repeated experience there, may proceed without one. The pilot advises and effectively directs the navigation and ship handling, giving helm and engine orders, but an important principle applies throughout: the master remains in overall command and responsible for the ship. The presence of a pilot does not relieve the master and watchkeeping officer of their duties; they must monitor the ship's progress and are entitled, indeed obliged, to intervene if they believe the pilot is placing the vessel in danger.

Effective pilotage depends on good cooperation and communication between the pilot and the bridge team, embodied in the exchange of information known as the master–pilot exchange, where the intended passage, the ship's characteristics and any limitations are discussed on boarding. This teamwork, underpinned by bridge resource management, is what makes the arrangement safe. Pilots are typically experienced former ship masters licensed by the local pilotage authority, and their service is one of the oldest and most important safeguards in the movement of ships into and out of port.