Harbour pilot
I’m Jack, and I’m a harbour pilot with the PSA [Port of Singapore Authority]. I got to know this job when I was in the Navy. I signed on when I was 18. After I commissioned as a Naval Officer when I was 19, I went to study for 4 years. Then I came back, and served 4.5 years of bond. I left after my bond was up. I’ve been a harbour pilot for almost 4 years, inclusive of my training.
Harbour pilots have been around for very long. In Singapore, from what I understand, we took over from the British in the early 1970s, and the first batch of Navy people crossed over in 1975. For our batch that just joined, first, my batch boy crossed over, and his father is a harbour pilot. So from there he built the bridge for us to cross over.
Training takes between 6 to 9 months. 6 months for navy people, because we have more sea time. 9 months for poly [polytechnic] fresh grads [graduates]. Subsequently, the examination would take about 1 to 2 months. There are actually 4 examinations. We have a written exam, simulator exam, practical test drive, and an oral examination. Basically the oral is to see how we fare given a situation under certain circumstances; what is our thinking process. The whole purpose is to ensure that we are safe, follow a very strict procedure, and are not complacent. Some people can be very good at berthing a ship, but they are quite complacent and disregard certain safety aspects. They will still fail the test. The examiner is an ex-pilot and he will be able to pass or fail you.
In our daily jobs, basically we guide ships in and out of Singapore. Ships that come into Singapore can be classified into a few categories. The first category is people who are transiting, and they need somewhere to stop for fuel and supplies: call it a pitstop. They will just come in and anchor. The second type is people who are here to buy and sell oil. It’s physical trading of oil. We need to bring them into Singapore, and subsequently to the terminal. Thirdly, there are odd jobs. For example Jurong fishery port; we bring in all the fishery boats. We also have a very vibrant maritime industry and one of the more reliable shipyards in this region. There are a lot of people who come here to do their repairs and other services. We provide a full one stop service here in Singapore. Then there are people who stop here because they want to do a crew change. Sometimes the ship sails for 1 to 2 months, then the crew goes back home. So their company will fly the next set of crew to Singapore, and do a crew change while they top up as well. So our job is to bring ships in and out of Singapore, and in and out of terminals in Singapore, and guide them to where they want to go within Singapore port limits. So as long as the ships reach Singapore port limits, we have to board.
My job is shift work based. We work 3 days morning, 1 day off, 3 days afternoon, 1 day off, 3 days night, 1 day off. Working hours would be 5am to 2pm for the morning shift, 1pm to 10pm for the afternoon shift, and 9pm to 6am for the night shift. The time varies because sometimes we may go back early, while sometimes we may have to OT [overtime] because when we are halfway on the job, there’s no one that will come to replace us. We board the ships alone. So we have to continue the job as required.
Although all of us board the ships alone, we communicate with each other via VHF [Very High Frequency] radio, we can see each other via this electronic chart, and we know who are doing the jobs. Within our own shift group, we know who is working, so we try to work as a team. While we serve the ship individually, we look at the bigger picture as we are part of the team. One shift has 50 pilots. So this application shows my joblist, name of pilot, vessel name, job location, start time etc. Planning is done by our command centre. Then this is our electronic chart [points to AIS application on iPad]. So we know all the vessels that are here. So let’s say we know that, I’m going up, and someone is coming down, we will ask,”How do you want to pass? Port to port (left to left), or starboard to starboard (right to right)?”
So that’s how we communicate. But usually we follow a general guide, something like a traffic guide, called ‘Rules of the Sea’. It’s something like driving regulations on roads. So these ‘Rules of the Sea’ are used by mariners around the world as a general guide on how to react to certain situations. Let’s say when there is a crossing situation, who has the right of way, or in a head on situation, what do you do. This is the basic that we have to adhere too.
We also work with other people. We are not alone. Our logistic team will perform the pilot launch, and service us from one boat to another boat. The tugs are also under PSA, and play a very important role when we berth a ship or bring a ship out. We are all working in unison, and communicate everything on the walkie-talkie.
Other port users will use the channel to communicate as well. So imagine in one day on average we have about 500 vessels moving in Singapore, by pilots, and there are some that are non-piloted as well. Non-piloted means some vessels which are exempted by the MPA [Maritime and Port Authority] from requiring harbour pilots, such as bunker barges, which are like mobile petrol stations that move around to top up fuel for the vessels.
On average, most of us will board about 3 to 4 vessels a day, and be on board each vessel for 1 to 2 hours. Sometimes if it’s a short job, those that we just sail the vessel out, then it can go up to 5 to 6 vessels. Some pilots who are very fast can do more. But for us, safety rules are the biggest concern. So we always say do not rush, do it safely. Also, only after we finish our current job would they give us the next job, although it has been planned out on their side. This is because they do not want us to avoid the job.
For our meals, some of us will buy before work and bring it along with us. Most of us will actually request from the ship: “Hey Captain, do you mind I request for dinner or breakfast?” Usually the captain will give us. Sometimes it’s really quite good [laughs]! Sometimes we will have burgers. Like I ate this Burmese food, it’s really quite nice. So my friend actually created this photo album [Jack shows me pictures of various meals he and his colleagues had onboard ships]. So these are all our food. But it’s really quite interesting, because sometimes all these things actually make us happy, because you are really quite tired and stuff and actually sometimes we get a late job, and we know that ok **** [expletive] I am gonna miss my dinner time, let’s ask for a good meal, and move on from there.
There are several soft skills that are very important for harbour pilots. Firstly, you must be a team player. If you are selfish and do not have any regard to what other people are doing, that will be very dangerous. For example, someone needs to cross ahead because of certain issues, like ‘hey I am a big tanker, I need to go’; ‘no you cannot, you have to take my stern’. These are people that are selfish. The company will get feedback and try to weed these people out. Secondly, stay calm as much as you can. The captain will always look at us and see how we react. Even when in a very bad situation we still have to stay calm and remain composed, so that the captain will trust our words. When something happens or something is going to happen and we start panicking, that’s the time when the captain may not feel comfortable and may just jump in. So that’s the ability to stay calm during difficult situations. The third part is to have a high level of situational awareness. You have to know what is happening around you, not only what is directly ahead. There are times when you need to do this and that; for example you want to start altering course to the right. However there is a vessel coming up, but you don’t know about it! That could be dangerous as well. So for us we always tell ourselves we must have a high level of situational awareness. We do that by walking around, using the navigational aids to our advantage, and looking at the AIS (Automatic Identification System) electronic chart, to print out the picture in our head.
All vessels above a certain size must have a transponder on board, and hence will have an AIS which will identify the ship name and MMSI [Maritime Mobile Service Identity] number. The MMSI is a unique number that is registered world-wide, something like how our IC [Identification Card] numbers are registered in Singapore. This AIS software shows all the AIS contacts within the region. It allows me to see what are the ships around me as well. So it’s a big change from the past. As early as 5 years ago, this technology was not easily accessible. But when I joined, this was actually on trial. So the senior harbour pilots will just tell me, “You know, this is so much different than in the past, because in the past when it’s raining very heavily, u can’t even see anything!” Nowadays we use both the radar and the AIS. I take the AIS with a pinch of salt because there’s always this possibility of error. I will always weigh my options fast and ask myself which source I can trust more. If I am very certain that the picture that I see outside visually matches this [points to AIS application on iPad], then I will use this.
Back to soft skills, fourth is the ability to think fast. This has to be built over time. When you are given a situation, I think many people will freeze during their first time. However, it’s the years of experience and how prepared are you that will minimise this freezing time. For example, you are going very fast, and suddenly the ship has a blackout. What’s gg to happen? So this is what we call crisis management. The ability to react to crisis is very important over here. Sometimes certain things don’t turn out the way u expected, so how do u think fast to react to the situation? The ship is on a surface that is affected by environmental factors such as the winds and currents. When there is a heavy thunderstorm, when the wind is very strong, we have to stay calm. The captain will be looking at us to see how we react to the situation. Are we able to stay calm and react to the situation well, or do we start panicking. That’s the time when you ask yourself which is the safer option. There’s always this option of aborting the movement. While you are going to the terminal but the wind starts picking up to 40 or 50 knots, there is no way you can dock the ship safely. So we can just tell the captain, “Captain, I don’t think it’s safe, let’s try to abort. I’ll bring you back to the anchorage.” So these are times we have to remain calm and tell the captain. Usually the captain will not reject if you tell them it’s a safety issue. Most captains will agree, and just move on.
When I go up a ship, I will a backpack with my iPad, raincoat, and walkie-talkie. That’s it. Some pilots don’t bring a raincoat, so their bag is very small. It’s really a personal choice to bring a raincoat. For me, I will want a raincoat, because I got wet a few times and I really hate it. Even though it makes my bag bulky and much bigger, to me that’s fine.
When we go up a ship, both the ship and the launch craft will be travelling. We cannot stop. We’ll be climbing up ladders made of rope. This is known as a pilot ladder; you can google it [Jack shows me several pictures of such ladders from a search he did on his phone.] The maximum height of the ladders is 9m. It’s an international standard, under SOLAS [Safety of Life at Sea]. Some ships are really big, so then it will be a combination of pilot ladder and gangway. So for us, that is one danger point we look out for. Sometimes it’s not safe to board due to the waves and currents. We have to make the decision whether it’s safe or not. Usually we will ask them to test the ladder first, and we’ll see; if the wave is too choppy, we will tell them we will not board. Either they will turn to put the wind on the other side to shield us from the wind, or we’ll just tell the office the wave is too choppy and we cannot board the ship. It’s a personal decision. End of the day, the management will also trust us in our judgement.
As pilots, we advise the captain verbally; we do not steer. We advise by giving the course to steer, and the engine orders. So for example, we’ll just tell them, “Come left, come right, pick up your speed, slow ahead, slow astern, half ahead, or reduce your speed, stop engine.”
I am Class B now, so the maximum length of the ships that I manoeuvre is 190m. The smallest ships I have manoeuvred are small yachts, about 20m. However, the new mega container ships can go up to 300m. Those are Class A1. To get from Class C to Class A1, it will take about 5 to 7 years on average. The certification is a general progression. I passed my Class B earlier in January this year, and am scheduled for Class A3 in May next year. So I have to start preparing for that. Whenever there is an increase in class, you get to handle bigger ships.
Your salary would also increase. There are four components to our pay. So for example I am Class B right; I’ve got a basic salary, pilot license salary, incentives (for the ships that we worked on), and our shift allowance. That’s about $7000 to $8000 per month for me currently. For a Class A1 holder, it can hit about $10,000 to $12,000 per month.
I think the biggest downside of this job is the shift routine. That’s the one that either makes or breaks the person’s decision to stay in this job or not. There are people who left halfway because they felt they could not take the shift routine. They couldn’t manage the body clock. That’s one big aspect that people find difficult to adapt to. Imagine you are doing 3 days of morning, and you sleep very early. Then you do 3 days of afternoon shift. That’s fine, cause afternoon means you’ll come back about 10pm to 11pm, and you just sleep in till about 8am to 9am. Then 3 days of night shift. This is actually the most damaging because you will come back home about 4am to 5am, and then if your body clock is so tuned to waking up early in the morning, like me, you’ll wake up about 10am. The latest I ever woke up after night shift was 11am. So I eventually adapted by sleeping again in the afternoon. So if you ask me, the downside of this job is the shift routine. However, other than that, if you can manage that well, I think it’s actually quite an enjoyable job.
Compared to what I was doing in the navy. It was a very interesting job, they developed you to be very well rounded, but you do not have a lot of time for yourself because you are handling a lot of things. Besides the 9 to 5 job, Monday to Friday, you have things like duty, exercise planning, and you have to watch out for your guys. Sometimes if your guys got into trouble; let’s say your guys beat up someone at the pub, and you need to go and bail them out at the police station, all these are all things that are real. Your sense of responsibility will make you want to work beyond the working hours. Over here, once I end my watch, that’s it. I will close everything, I do not bring any work back. This is why I have much more time to do what I want, which is volunteer work. This is an avenue for me to develop myself more holistically, and mingle.
There are 3 types of people who come to work as harbour pilots with PSA. First, there are the navy people like me. Second, there are those who were ship captains. There is actually a recruitment drive to recruit ship captains from overseas. They are non-Singaporeans; from China, Myanmar, Philippines and India etc. They make up about 25-30% of the harbour pilots here. They are actually quite nice. We actually get to interact quite well with them. They all have to speak English proficiently because English is our official working language when we communicate with other vessels. The third kind of people are from the SP [Singapore Polytechnic] diploma in Nautical Studies. When they graduate from that course and get their COC3 [Class of Competency 3], they can come in straight, but their training will be slightly longer. 50% of the harbour pilots are COC3 and they are mostly from the poly [polytechnic]. That is the most basic certification. To be a ship captain u must be COC1, and in order to hit COC1 u must have been sailing for 2 to 5 years, depending on how fast you are. This is interesting because these are what we Navy people call the commercial license. We do not have a commercial license. So out of the 3 categories that I have just said, the one that is the most valuable are the ship captains with the COC1. It is very easy for them to cross over to another job where the pay is better, for example in Dubai, Australia, or New Zealand. However, for us from the Navy, I do not have any commercial value. So once I say I do not want to work anymore, once I want to go overseas, I do not have a captain license. They will not employ me. My license is specifically for being a harbour pilot in Singapore.
Harbour pilots are a very specialised profession that every port will have. We are the middleman between the ship and the terminal. The ships’ KPI [Key Performance Indicator] is to go in fast, come out fast, and what will they disregard? Safety. But for us, we are employed by the port authority. I don’t care if the ship captain tells me that he needs to leave by this time. Safety is paramount.
So that is how we work. Why we are so special? We know the waters around. We know all the communications around. We are something like the local guide. So when the ship comes into our port limits, they will hand over to us, and we will guide them safely to where they want. For Singapore this is so important. I did give it some thoughts before. We are like the first service person when the ship comes to Singapore, and similarly the last person when it leaves Singapore. We trigger the start the sequence of maritime operations for the ship in Singapore. So if we give them good service, they will feel that service in Singapore is really very good, and they would want to come. Even though cost wise we cannot fight with Malaysia or Indonesia, but in terms of safety, in terms of security. U know, we are safe in port. This is how we guarantee these people. This is why the maritime industry here has been so vibrant. We go by service. We make it a point when we walk up to the navigational bridge, we will talk to the captain and shake their hands. So the first impression does count. Give them a good handshake, smile, “Hey captain welcome to Singapore, just want to check where you are going. I’ll get you there.”
So these are the things that we are trained to do. And for all of us deep down I think that if we have provided good service, these people will be happy as well. Although we are the only service provider, most of us that I know also take it with pride to give good service to the people. And good service also entails safety as well. Safety is very important. Even for me, I always tell myself: “The day when I am complacent; I think that I am safe, is the day when accidents will happen.” So I always go out with this small little fear that something will happen. But it’s this little fear that will keep me on my toes, and make sure that I watch out for things. It’s something that I learnt when I was in the navy, and I bring it to being a harbour pilot here because I think those words are really true.
Singapore, 2015