Resolution A.960(23)
RECOMMENDATIONS ON TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR
MARITIME PILOTS OTHER THAN DEEP-SEA PILOTS
(adopted
on 5 December 2003)
THE
ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING
Article 15(j) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization
concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to regulations and
guidelines concerning maritime safety and the prevention and control of marine
pollution from ships,
RECOGNIZING
that maritime pilots play an important role in promoting maritime safety and
protecting the marine environment,
BELIEVING
that the maintaining of a proper working relationship between the pilot, the
master and, as appropriate, the officer in charge of a navigational watch is
important in ensuring the safety of shipping,
NOTING
that since each pilotage area needs highly specialized experience and local
knowledge on the part of the pilot, IMO does not intend to become involved with
either the certification or licensing of pilots or the systems of pilotage practised
in various States,
RECOGNIZING
ALSO the high standards of pilotage services already established in many States
and the need for these standards to be maintained,
CONSIDERING
that in those States developing pilotage services, the establishment of practical
minimum training standards, certification requirements and operational
procedures to provide effective co-ordination between pilots and ship
personnel, taking due account of ship bridge procedures and ship equipment,
would contribute to maritime safety,
HAVING
CONSIDERED the recommendation made by the Maritime Safety Committee at its
seventy-fifth session,
1.
ADOPTS:
a) Recommendation on
Training and Certification of Maritime Pilots other than Deep-Sea Pilots, given
Annex 1 to the present resolution;
b) Recommendation on
Operational Procedures for Maritime Pilots other than Deep-Sea Pilots, given in
Annex 2 to the present resolution;
2.
URGES Governments to give effect to these Recommendations as soon as possible;
3.
REQUESTS the Maritime Safety Committee to keep these Recommendations under
review and to amend them experience gained from their implementation;
4.
REVOKES resolution A.485(XII).
Annex 1.
RECOMMENDATION ON TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF MARITIME PILOTS OTHER THAN
DEEP-SEA PILOTS
1.1
It is recognised that pilotage requires specialised knowledge and experience of
a specific area and that States with many diverse waterways and ports have
found it appropriate to administer pilotage on a regional or local basis.
1.2
The maritime pilots referred to in this Recommendation do not include deep-sea
pilots or shipmasters or crew who are certificated or licensed to carry out
pilotage duties in particular areas.
1.3
Governments should encourage the establishment or maintenance of competent
pilotage authorities to administer safe and efficient pilotage systems.
2. Competent pilotage authority
2.1
Competent pilotage authority means either the Administration itself or
regional, local groups or organizations that by law or tradition, administer or
provide a pilotage system. Administrations should inform competent pilotage
authorities of the provisions of this document and encourage their
implementation.
2.2
The assessment of the experience, qualifications and suitability of an applicant
for certification or licensing, as a pilot, is the responsibility of each
competent pilotage authority.
2.3
The competent pilotage authority in co-operation with the national and local
pilots' associations should:
.1 establish the entry
requirements and develop the standards for obtaining a certificate or licence
in order to perform pilotage services within the area under its jurisdiction;
.2 enforce the maintenance
of developed standards;
.3 specify whatever
prerequisites, experience or examinations are necessary to ensure that
applicants for certification or licensing as pilots are properly trained and
qualified; and
.4 arrange for
investigations of incidents involving pilotage.
3. Pilotage certificate or licence
Every
pilot should hold an appropriate pilotage certificate or licence issued by the
competent pilotage authority. In addition to stating the pilotage area for
which it is issued, the certificate or licence should also state any
requirements or local limitations that the competent pilotage authority may
specify such as maximum size, draught or tonnage of vessels that the holder is
qualified to pilot.
4.1
Each pilot should satisfy the competent pilotage authority that his or her
medical fitness, particularly regarding eyesight, hearing and physical fitness
meets the standards required for certification of masters, and officers in
charge of a navigational watch under the International Convention on Standards
of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended, or
such other standards as the competent pilotage authority considers appropriate.
4.2
If a pilot has experienced a serious injury or illness, there should be a
re-evaluation of his or her medical fitness prior to return to duty.
5. Training and certification or licensing
standards
5.1
The competent pilotage authority is responsible for training and certification
or licensing standards. The standards should be sufficient to enable pilots to
carry out their duties safely and efficiently.
5.2
Standards for initial training should be designed to develop in the trainee
pilot the skills and knowledge determined by the competent pilotage authority
to be necessary for obtaining a pilot certificate or license. The training
should include practical experience gained under the close supervision of
experienced pilots. This practical experience gained on vessels under actual
piloting conditions may be supplemented by simulation, both computer and manned
model, classroom instruction, or other training methods.
5.3
Every pilot should be trained in bridge resource management with an emphasis on
the exchange of information that is essential to a safe transit. This training
should include possibility for the pilot to assess particular situations and to
conduct an exchange of information with the master and/or officer in charge of
navigational watch. Maintaining an effective working relationship between the
pilot and the bridge team in both routine and emergency conditions should be
covered in training. Emergency condition should include loss of steering, loss
of propulsion, and failures of radar, vital systems and automation, in a narrow
channel or fairway.
5.4
Initial and continuing training in the master-pilot information exchange should
also cover:
.1 regulatory requirements
governing the exchange;
.2 recognition of language,
cultural, psychological and physiological impediments to effective
communication and interaction and techniques for overcoming these impediments;
and
.3 best practices in the
specific pilotage area.
5.5
Competent pilotage authorities should be encouraged to provide updating and
refresher training conducted for certified or licensed pilots to ensure the
continuation of their proficiency and updating of their knowledge, and could
include the following:
.1 courses to improve
proficiency in the English language where necessary;
.2 sessions to enhance the
ability to communicate with local authorities and other vessels in the area;
.3 meetings with local
authorities and other responsible agencies to envisage emergency situations and
contingency plans;
.4 refresher or renewal
courses in bridge resource management for pilots to facilitate communication
and information exchange between the pilot and the master and to increase
efficiency on the bridge;
.5 simulation exercises,
which may include radar training and emergency shiphandling procedures;
.6 courses in shiphandling
training centres using manned models;
.7 seminars on new bridge
equipment with special regard to navigation aids;
.8 sessions to discuss
relevant issues connected with the pilotage service including laws, rules and
regulations particular to the pilotage area;
.9 personal safety training;
.10 techniques for personal
survival at sea; and
.11 emergency first aid,
including cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and hypothermia remediation.
6.1
In order to ensure the continued proficiency of pilots and updating of their
knowledge, the competent pilotage authority should satisfy itself, at regular
intervals not exceeding five years, that all pilots under its jurisdiction:
.1 continue to possess
recent navigational knowledge of the local area to which the certificate of
licence applies;
.2 continue to meet the
medical fitness standards of paragraph 4 above; and
.3 possess knowledge of the
current international, national and local laws, regulations and other
requirements and provisions relevant to the pilotage area and the pilots'
duties.
6.2
Possession of knowledge required by subparagraphs 6.1.1 and 6.1.3 may be proved
by an appropriate method such as personal service records, completion of
continuing professional development courses or by an examination.
6.3
Where a pilot in cases of absence from duty, for whatever reason, is lacking
recent experience in the pilotage area, the competent pilotage authority should
satisfy itself that the pilot regains familiarity with the area on his or her
return.
7. Syllabus for pilotage certification or
licensing
7.1
In the syllabus, area means the waters for which the applicant is to be
certified or licensed. Each applicant for a pilot certificate or license should
demonstrate that he or she has necessary knowledge of the following:
.1 limits of local pilotage
areas;
.2 International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 as amended, and also such other national
and local navigational safety and pollution prevention rules as may apply in
the area;
.3 system of buoyage in the
area;
.4 characteristics of the
lights and their angles of visibility and the fog signals, racons and radio
beacons and other electronic aids in use in the area;
.5 names, positions and
characteristics of the light vessels, buoys, beacons, structures and other
marks in the area;
.6 names and characteristics
of the channels, shoals, headlands and points in the area;
.7 bridge and similar
obstruction limitations including air draughts;
.8 depths of water
throughout the area, including tidal effects and similar factors;
.9 general set, rate, rise
and duration of the tides and use of the tide tables and real-time and current
data systems, if available, for the area;
.10 proper courses and
distances in the area;
.11 anchorages in the area;
.12 shiphandling for
piloting, anchoring, berthing and unbreathing, manoeuvring with and without
tugs, and emergency situations;
.13 communications and
availability of navigational information;
.14 systems of radio
navigational warning broadcasts in the area and the type of information likely
to be included;
.15 traffic separation schemes,
vessel traffic services and similar vessel management systems in the area;
.16 bridge equipment and
navigational aids;
.17 use of radar and other
electronic devices; their limitations and capabilities as navigation and
collision avoidance aids;
.18 manoeuvring behaviour of
the types of ships expected to be piloted and the limitations imposed by
particular propulsion and steering systems;
.19 factors affecting ship
performance such as wind, current, tide, channel configuration, water depth,
bottom, bank and ship interaction including squat;
.20 use and limitation of
various types of tugs;
.21 the English language to
a standard adequate to enable the pilot to express communications clearly;
.22 IMO Standard Marine
Communication Phrases;
.23 Master-Pilot
Relationship, Pilot Card, operational procedures;
.24 pollution prevention;
.25 emergency and
contingency plans for the area; .26 safe embarking and disembarking procedures;
and .27 any other relevant knowledge considered necessary.
Annex 2.
RECOMMENDATION ON OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR MARITIME PILOTS OTHER THAN
DEEP-SEA PILOTS
Efficient
pilotage depends, among other things, upon the effectiveness of the
communications and information exchanges between the pilot, the master and the
bridge personnel and upon the mutual understanding each has for the functions
and duties of the other. Establishment of effective co-ordination between the
pilot, the master and the bridge personnel, taking due account of the ship's
systems and equipment available to the pilot, will aid a safe and expeditious
passage.
2. Duties of master, bridge officers and
pilot
2.1
Despite the duties and obligations of a pilot, the pilot's presence on board
does not relieve the master or officer in charge of the navigational watch from
their duties and obligations for the safety of the ship. It is important that,
upon the pilot boarding the ship and before the pilotage commences, the pilot,
the master and the bridge personnel are aware of their respective roles in the safe
passage of the ship.
2.2
The master, bridge officers and pilot share a responsibility for good
communications and understanding of each other's role for the safe conduct of
the vessel in pilotage waters.
2.3
Masters and bridge officers have a duty to support the pilot and to ensure that
his/her actions are monitored at all times.
3.1
The appropriate competent pilotage authority should establish and promulgate
the location of safe pilot embarkation and disembarkation points.
3.2
The pilot boarding point should be at a sufficient distance from the
commencement of the act of pilotage to allow safe boarding conditions.
3.3
The pilot boarding point should also be situated at a place allowing for
sufficient time and sea room to meet the requirements of the master-pilot
information exchange. (See paragraphs 5.1 to 5.6 below.)
4. Procedures for requesting pilot
4.1
The appropriate competent pilotage authority should establish,