Marine Finance & Insurance
A Safety Net for Pilots
By Richard DeSimone and Chris Cooke
About the Author
For almost as long as commerce has existed in the United States, there have been pilots to bring ships safely into unfamiliar harbors. In fact, the group that became the Sandy Hook Pilots dates its beginnings to 1694 when the Colonial Assembly contracted with local pilots to help ships safely enter and leave New York's already bustling port. Today, the American Pilots' Association provides a voice for about 60 associations of state-licensed pilots, as well as the three groups of U.S.-registered pilots operating in the Great Lakes. These organizations represent highly skilled professionals who go through rigorous training and a lengthy apprenticeship to qualify for their licenses. Their job is both challenging and dangerous. In rough weather and high seas, they clamber from their own small vessels up the side of the huge ship that they will be guiding. Working in tricky conditions that include narrow inlets and treacherous waterways, they provide their localized expertise to the ship's master and crew to keep ships from run-
ning aground on underwater hazards and to navigate vessels through the push and pull of unpredictable currents. When weather is bad and visibility drops to zero, they rely on instrumentation and a mind's eye that has developed from long experience. Across the country, at our nation's busiest ports, pilots have their hands on the pulse of U.S. commerce thousands of times over the course of the year. For example, the local association reported 80,000 piloted vessel movements for the Port of Los Angeles alone. Each pilotage holds the potential for mishap, yet problems are rare. The International Group of P&I Clubs, an organization of underwriters that cover liability for approximately 90 percent of the world's ocean-going tonnage, found an average of only 44 pilot errors worldwide per year between 1999 and 2006. The largest number of incidents occurred in the United States, but when the total volume of shipping activity is taken into account, problems are more likely to occur elsewhere on a per-piloted-movement basis (Argentina leads the
list, followed by Malaysia, Taiwan and Cyprus). However, insurers worry not just about frequency of incidents but also severity, and there the story is not as satisfying. The International Group's study found the average value of incidents each year to be about $39 million. Just three examples indicate how quickly the "average" cost can be outstripped: � In June 1973, the container ship Sea Witch was outbound from Staten Island when the pilot ordered a change of course and the helmsman reported a loss of steering capability. The ship struck the anchored Esso Brussels, rupturing tanks of crude oil that ignited and engulfed both ships in flames. Fifteen people died (with another crew member listed as missing in the official federal report), nearby beaches were polluted, and damage to the ships and cargo was estimated at $23 million. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the cause as mechanical failure, but also blamed the failure of the crew to take adequate and timely action.
Rich DeSimone is president of Travelers Ocean Marine. He can be reached at rich.desimone@travelers.com
� In May 1980, a harbor pilot tried to steer an empty freighter into Tampa Bay during an unexpected squall. Riding high and buffeted by powerful gale-force winds, the ship slammed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, causing a 1,300-foot chunk of the highway to fall along with six cars, one pickup truck and a bus. Thirty-five people died. The National Transportation Safety Board held the pilot partially responsible, although the severe storm was clearly a contributing factor. Cost to replace the
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