Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), July 1925, p. 248

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

248 In those days the pilot boat first in contact with an incoming ship was en- titled to the fees. The pooling of calls to service has not only greatly im- proved the service but has reacted favorably to the welfare of the in- dividual pilot. . Pilot associations re- sulted as a mutually protective meas- ure, to keep up the standard of qual- ity and to control pilot activities in an orderly and regular manner so that immediate and adequate service could be given at all times. Though only quasi public bodies the pilot as- sociations serving the port of New York, are recognized by the state governments of New York and New Jersey to the extent of making it man- datory by law that ships entering and clearing foreign must avail them- selves of licensed pilots. By legisla- tive action the states of New York and New Jersey provide for boards of commisisoners of pilots. It is the duty of these boards to supervise the activities of the pilot associations, examine candidates and issue licenses as pilots and to regulate the fees charged for pilotage. The state of New York provides for the appoint- ment of a board of Pilot Commission- ers of five members with a term of office of two years. Three of these members are appointed by the cham- ber of commerce of the city of New York and two members are appointed by the New York Board of Under- writers. In New Jersey the Board of Commissioners of Pilots consists of six members appointed by the gov- ernor for a term of three years. Are Selected The pilot organizations select their own candidates. They choose young men -of intelligence, rugged physique and good home surroundings. These young candidates, though well treated as young midshipmen might be in re- lation to senior officers, are com- pelled to spend from four to seven years as boat men, deck hands, and general aides to the pilots. After this period of initiation the candidate spends one year accompanying a pilot in the performance of his regular duties. On the completion of this year of instruction and observation, the candidate must pass an examina- tion before the Board of Pilot Com- missioners. If the candidate passes this examination he is given a license good for one year, permitting him to pilot vessels not over eighteen feet in draft. At the end of the first year if his services have been satisfactory a license is again issued for one year allowing him to pilot vessels not exceeding 24 feet in draft. At the end of this time if he has performed his duties in a satisfactory manner, a How Pilots MARINE REVIEW license is issued for unlimited draft. Licenses must be renewed every year for all pilots. Though fairly remuner- ative the long apprenticeship at nom- inal pay and most arduous and haz- ardous duty, tends to keep out of the service the weak and timid and those who do not have an inborn love of the sea even in its wildest aspects. It is strenuous and dangerous work to launch a small boat in. a heavy sea and maneuver alongside a_ high- sided ship with such expert handling that the pilot is able to make a safe landing on a swinging Jacob’s ladder. Fixed Rates Charged Pilotage charges are fixed per foot of greatest draft of the ship, and are determined by the pilot associations to the approval of the Board of Com- missioners of Pilots. The schedule of charge may change from time to time and is given out by the pilot office to anyone desiring the information. Recently the schedule of charges was as follows: Outbound Limiting Inbound per foot of drafts per foot of greatest draft feet greatest draft $2.02 Up to 18% $2.78 $2.33 14to 17% $3.38 $3.08 18 to 20% $4.13 $3.56 21 and up $4.88 During the fiscal year ending June 380, 1923, 5548 vessels entered and 5805 vessels cleared foreign at the port of New York. Assuming for all these vessels an average draft of 21 feet and considering only the en- trances and clearances foreign for the last fiscal year a tentative total figure for pilotage in and out of New York for this class of vessel will be something over $1,000,000. That the total of pilot dues for the port of New York is considerably greater than this figure seems reasonably cer- tain as many vessels coastwise, though not compelled by law to do so, use pilots in coming in and going out of the harbor. Considerable sums of money are invested by the pilots’ as- sociations in their pilot boats and equipment, upkeep, office expenses, pensions, etc., so that the remunera- tion by the individual pilots though good is not exceptional when the serv- ices they are called upon to render is taken into consideration. A contract for the furnishing of 42 generators has been awarded to the Ridgeway Dynamo & Engine Co. of Ridgeway, Pa., at a total price of $60,046. These generators are in- tended for use on the 14 vessels which the United States shipping board is converting to diesel propulsion. Thirty-seven of these machines will be 75 kilowatt, 265 revolutions per minute and seven will be 75 kilowatt, 250 revolutions per minute. July, 1925 Marine Exposition in New York—Nov. 9-14 The development of an American merchant marine and its subsidiaries, port and harbor improvements, re- quires co-operative effort upon the part of all branches of the marine in- dustry. Today there are perhaps near- ly a hundred marine and allied asso- ciations grouped around very highly specialized parts of this industry. What is required is united thought and action. Naturally an exposition should be the center of such a gathering, as personal contact and exhibits of pos- sible developments are necessary to develop one concrete idea acceptable to the ship owners, ship operators, ship builders, port organizations, har- bor commissions, builders of propell- ing, auxiliary and material handling apparatus, as well as to sell the big idea to the operating personnel and American public. A movement is now gathering mo- mentum to have as many as possible of these organizations hold their an- nual or a special meeting in New York City during the American marine ex- position, Nov. 9 to 14, 1925. All of these meetings of course would be held under their respective flags flying as high or higher than that of the American marine association. Out of such a gathering’ should arise at least one joint meeting of all the associa- tions, one that would really be repre- sentative of the marine industry. A number of societies have already prom- ised to co-operate. The effect would be really impressive upon the American public whose finan- cial and business support is necessary to establish the American merchant marine. A keen interest in this year’s Amer- ican marine exposition is best illus- trated by the large number of con- tracts placed for the reservation of booth space. Out of 44 wall booths only five remain unsold; six out of eight double booths have been con- tracted for and a large number of the center booths have been reserved.

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy