Alternative solutions for pilot organizations -with safety perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study is to find alternative ways to organize pilotage in Finland. There are two important changes under preparations right now. The one is a new Pilot Act and the other is the type of entire pilot organization. These two are interdependent but implemented, at least partly, by different institutions. There have been a lot of discussions on such issues as monopoly vs. competition or governmental vs. private. The focus has anyhow been on economics or legal matters. The safety in pilotage has not been an issue in those discussions. One reason for this might be that decision makers need more information about safety. Safety Management System is compulsory for ships and shipping compames internationally but not yet for pilot organisations. Many pilot organizations have acknowledged the importance of Safety Management System and started to work on the issue. In this study interviews were used as an essential method to get information on how various pilot organizations have arranged their safety related matters. The interviewees were carefully chosen and include representatives from various types of pilot organizations. When comparing how various pilot organizations are handling their safety matters it could be noticed that the private pilot organizations have been most active on this. The governmental pilot organizations are still preparing their systems but have not implemented those yet. The Finnish State Pilot Enterprise, Finnpilot, has not any Safety Management System. Finnpilot's 'job satisfaction survey 2010' shows that employers are very disappointed with the senior management and they want to become governmental civil servants. The private Dutch pilot company together with the European Maritime Pilots Organization (EMPA) has developed the 'International Standard for Pilot Organisations' (ISPO Code) which is a safety management system. The Dutch pilots have implemented the 'ISPO Code' into their organization and it is audited (outer audits) by Lloyds Register, which is a classification society. Det Norske Veritas (DNV), which is another classification society, has also been active on safety management in pilotage and has introduced the 'Rules for Pilot Organisations'. These rules are presented as a part of this master thesis.