A Day in the life of a Port Pilot

[@kevinguevara5674]

For three years I was working in Santa Marta as a tug boat master and I must say that I always felt very comfortable in your maneuvers. I really respect your professionalism and your excellent behavior with us.

[@guillerod81]

gracias comandante

[@guillerod81]

Went to a Maritime School to get my deck officer.s license, then sailed 4 years to get the required sea time. then applied for a pilot;s license at home, and after a year of training I got my license. Started working right away in a local pilot company. Thanks

[@nolanz2727]

I’m debating going to Massachusetts maritime academy and studying marine transportation to become a harbour pilot. I’m just wondering how many days a week and what the work hours are like for the job.

[@musicmakesmysoulfly]

Thank you. This was very interesting. I never knew this profession existed until today. I respect your responsibility.

[@JG-iq7qr]

I would love to see more videos of the life of a Harbor Pilot. This is the profession I plan to do and would love to learn more about it. Thanks For the video!!!

[@Noknes]

did you become a pilot

[@fernandofilho6938]

Great film Guille! Unfortunatelly it will never ever be possible to put on a film all the responsibility that comes in our day by day duties, and also the hard relation between safety and economic interests presented by pressures over the pilot shoulders sometimes. Congrats!!!

[@guillerod81]

All maritime schools in the world have the same programs. You can either chose to be an engineer or a deck officer. For becoming a pilot, I needed to be a deck officer. It is the same as any university program, and depending on the school, it is 4 or 5 years long. Normally you get a college degree in Nautical Science or engineering and a marine license which you can use to work on merchant ships. the costs vary a lot depening on the country. I paid about 8,000 uSD per semester in the US.

[@andyjohannessen9474]

That was great, shows even the serious guys have a sense of humour. Thanks for posting.

[@Engineer_rob95]

Please, make more! Or just get in front of the camera and tell us about the maritime pilot's life! I'm 16 and being a maritime pilot is my life's dream! In 2015 I'm starting at the University of Marine Education in Rotterdam (Netherlands) I love this profession

[@Bloodymononoke39]

Are you a maritime pilot yet?

[@cabal0092009]

themaritimepil1.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-day-in-harbor-pilots-life.html A day in a harbor pilot's life... Cool vídeo

[@ВалентинНикульшин-л5х]

Super the video ✊ and very interesting! Thanks

[@feliciapeach]

I am friends with a Harbour Pilot in Australia. He has tried to get me onboard a ship bearing my own name, however was not successful in achieving this due to safety concerns etc. Good ol' days are sadly long gone. I am currently doing my Coxswain's ticket and have been told that I should aim for Masters. I have been out on a Pilot Vessel twice during the dark of night. It was an awesome experience. Thankyou for the vid in filling in the parts of the job I have not yet got to experience for myself. I had imagined many flights of stairs etc haha... your vid is exactly how I thought it would be like.

[@andreacalderon6875]

I’m a shipping agent and I just love watching your videos 😍

[@Mr.GUT3]

Its funny how i Just randomly came up on this video and without looking at the descriptiion, i kept saying to myself... This looks awfully lot like Santa Marta. Then i scroll down at the end of the video to see that it says, recorded in Santa Marta lolol... I've been here many times. I was Second Mate on 'CFS Pamplona' which does trade here quite often... Very nice port and place and a very good video. I also aspire to be a port pilot some day. Good Job

[@guillerod81]

thank you very much. good luck on your career!

[@mecarpentermusic]

Very cool video, thanks for posting !!

[@hotjose24]

Buen trabajo rodriguez. buen video. Muestra que el ser marino mercante no es nada facil, pero a la vez es un grandioso trabajo. saludos desde venezuela.

[@guillerod81]

Gracias. la verdad es una profesion en la que ese necesario aprender a menejar un nivel alto de estres. Soy mercante. saludos!

[@guillerod81]

that's exactly right, few people actually know what exactly a port pilot does, part of the reason why I made this video. Thanks.

[@rakeshsharma6470]

Hi Everyone, we have opening for Harbor Pilot for UAE location. Please whatsapp me at 0091 7206001398

[@TheSpectre130]

Really good its really interesting to find out about the piloting profession its a shame its not so well known

[@TheSunMoon]

great video! i applied for a maritime deck officer scholarship and will start my course this coming May! i'm very excited i can't wait! hehe! maybe in the future, i might wanna do piloting for my local port.

[@guillerod81]

good for you. it`s an interesting career.

[@karatekapten3870]

Great video. It is a good description of our job. Best regards from a channel/lake/port pilot in Södertälje Sweden. "My lock": Passing the lock of Sodertalje

[@guillerod81]

Thank you captain. Regards from Colombia.

[@karatekapten3870]

Guille Rodriguez 5:31 I like that ! "When you go astern your bow goes to starboard right ?" I do the exact same ! I ask what happens and tries not to get stuck in the righthanded pitch, acting righthanded, lefthanded gearbox bla bla bla discussion. It just leads to missunderstandings. It´s nice your on the other side of the globe and we think the same ! :-)

[@guillerod81]

Kapten Grodhavet that's exactly right captain.

[@alexmontego189]

Ese buque Frio Hellenic construio en mi ciudad en Ucranìa, en fin de 90s, recuerdolo zarpando por su primer viaje desde astilleros. Es unico de ese serie que esta navegando, el otro mismo quedo en astilleros hasta ahora, aun no estaba lanzado al agua. Partenece a una empresa Griega, donde navegaba mi papà casi quince años. La mayoria de tripulante siempre esta desde crimea.

[@gsaldana22]

How fascinating! This would be a great profession for me! I plan on attending a Maritime Academy and doing something similar to piloting. This was a great "behind the scenes" video.

[@guillerod81]

Thank you. I hope your plans turn out the way you want. Interesting career.

[@guillerod81]

Thank you Fernando. You are exactly right about all the commercial, economic pressures and responasbilities. I used a Gopro Hero2 Camera for this video. regards!

[@rakeshsharma6470]

Hi Everyone, we have opening for Harbor Pilot for UAE location. Please whatsapp me at 0091 7206001398

[@guillerod81]

Muchas gracias. Asi es, no es para nada facil mucho trasnocho y sacrificio, pero es una profesion muy interesante. saluodos.

[@brendangil8091]

18 year old ... going to maritime academy in a few years ... chasing my dreams of hoping to achieve this

[@sinclairjones3496]

it is amazing how they talk about arriving on time to get unloaded and loaded to depart for the next port. I have noticed that a few ports cannot accommodate these large ships which does not make sense. why sail to a port that too small to accommodate

[@TheSpectre130]

As I said fantastic film, could you possibly make another one?

[@guillerod81]

good for you. It's a very different and interesting profession, but it can also be very stressful sometimes.

[@zjice]

kool, I need to enroll myself in a course.

[@kstjew6789]

Good to see the Marco Polo. Worked on board her at Singapore in 1980

[@sarge6870]

Been on many cruises and have a few questions...How far out do you pilot a ship before you debark or board it for docking? How much "control" do you have over the vessel beyond the captain? With so many different vessels (Cruise, Cargo, Tanker etc) do you have to train on all of them? Thanks and god speed...

[@guillerod81]

Every port has a desiganted point called the "pilot station" or in the case of a channel, you normally have a "Sea Buoy", those are normally the designated points where a pilot should embark or disembark a vessel. So it's not defined by a certain dsitance, but rather how the local maritime authority designed the navigation routes and limits in the area. regarding how much control: the captain always has legal authority (excecpt in Some canals and shipyards). The pilot is considered an advisor to the captain. However, in practice, the pilot actually gives all the orders once he takes the command of the vessel (usally after he sigs what is called pilot/master information exchange document). In highly manueverable vessels such as Dynamically positioned or cruise ships, the master and officers usually do their own thing and the pilot just gives them pointers. Pilots are usually retired merchant marine captains, so they should have very ample knowledge and experience on how every different type of vessel maneuvers. Every country has slightly different laws and requirements for pilots, but in general terms, they should be experienced mariners.

[@sarge6870]

Thank you sir for well explained answers. Always loved the sea but leave the hard stuff to you guys!

[@bozenajencek]

happy voyage

[@fernandofilho6938]

Guille, what was the specific kind of equipment used to record the film?

[@TrillBill]

What do Port Pilot do exactly? I'm quite new to this

[@Matpos9]

Mi capitán lo felicito por este video. Muchas Gracias por compartirlo, he tenido la fortuna de poder acompañar a un piloto de buenaventura en varias ocasiones a varias maniobras, y ustedes en definitiva tienen nervios de acero. Gracias! por ultimo Usted es oficial naval o marino mercante en retiro?

[@Maloy7800]

You don't sound like Colombian. You sound like an American. How did you end up as a pilot in Santa Marta?

[@guillerod81]

Actually I am from Santa Marta. However, I recieved my education at American schools, also worked for Transocean (american company) for some years in Africa. That´s probably why. Thanks for the comment.

[@nmnmnm35]

@@guillerod81 A school on the west coast im assumming, Nor cal?

[@guillerod81]

nmnmnm actually Maine Maritime Academy. Would have been cool to go to cal maritime though

[@nativeafroeurasian]

Is the "parking" called docking?

[@charifyks2500]

good video, but in comparison with a days captain in port especially in tankers, is more more hard than a pilots day, if you know...

[@rajeshjoshi1486]

Busy day for port pilots

[@zjice]

when you went to marine time school, what were you studying? and how much did it cost you?

[@rmtgplayer]

How did you get started?

[@OriginalDimascus]

Are you one of the pilots who make the ships wait until they give a 10-20 carton of smokes? Or are you a nice one lol I've heard lots of pilots who make ships wait until they pay a bribe, or they just don't pass.

[@OriginalDimascus]

@@guillerod81 judging by your response, your a crook. I'm also not american

[@runsinbolt9331]

24 hour shift, is that normal?

[@ricardosuarez8023]

I might've gotten it wrong, but 24-hour shift?!? Isn't that too much for such a big responsibility?

[@guillerod81]

you would think so yes. however those are not 24 hours straight. every manuever takes only about half an hour and you've got plenty rest time in between.

[@shadowreaper5413]

How much do you make per year?

[@bozo47p]

+Shadow Reaper 400,000 annually for the average

[@sinclairjones3496]

that's 400,000 dollars or what currency is it

[@sinclairjones3496]

is it 400,000 dollars or what currency is this based on

[@mattiharbourmh]

you have ruined it by speeding up the video what the heck

[@KingShadStarSeed9]

Sooooo many steps

[@junaidashraf3888]

From PAKISTAN....Pilot is Old man and suffering some asthma problems...

[@captainBFH]

I've walked the walk.

[@mattiharbourmh]

i think anyway, this is only an opinion

[@rakeshsharma6470]

Hi Everyone, we have opening for Harbor Pilot for UAE location. Please whatsapp me at 0091 7206001398

[@ivyedan7183]

that would be such a great job..except for the Somali pirates

[@jerematthewjohnson5677]

Bar Pilot

[@neildavidson4320]

Pilot didn't even know which side the vessel was to berth alongside, dear God.

[@guillerod81]

+Neil Davidson yeah, because that´s the way this port works for this kind of vessels (reefer liners), ships are received in a first come, first serve manner, therefore the pilot has to check with the port once he is onboard as to what they want to do with it. dumbass.

[@motorsportman265]

Damn............

[@cabal0092009]

@@guillerod81 that was a decent answer, I loved the closing

[@brendangil8091]

18 year old ... going to maritime academy in a few years ... chasing my dreams of hoping to achieve this

[@manusk40]

I am in the exact same position but i don't know what to do like where to look for courses or what path to take I'd like to know what you've done so far and any advice Thanks.

[@indeepship____3944]

As someone in a maritime acadmey in the US. Id apply for one of the 5 and hope you get in.

[@vince-367]

Do whatever the fuck you want dude nobody gives a shit.

[@jimtuna1354]

@@vince-367 go fuck your self your probable a bumb

[@brendangil8091]

18 year old ... going to maritime academy in a few years ... chasing my dreams of hoping to achieve this