According to the international practices and the government regulations of China, to enter and exit China’s ports, foreign ships should apply for piloting to the pilot organizations. This is not only required by the nation’s sovereignty safeguard over territorial waters and the national defense security, but also the essential means to guarantee the safety and punctuality of the ships’ entrance and exit of the port , and to maintain the public security of the port.
Entering and exiting the port is the most dangerous section of navigation for ships. Captains of seagoing ships have no ways to always memorize and get accustomed to the meteorology, hydrology, topography, and port operation practices of each port. Hence, they must apply for pilots to operate for them instead. The pilots are specially engaged in guiding ships to enter, exit the port, and berthing operation without relieving the responsibility and duties of the captain. Every day pilots have to operate different ships from various countries, and deal with different characters of ships, people and water areas.
Shanghai Maritime Pilots’ Association is by far the latest of its kind in the country. There are more than 500 employees and 13 various kinds of ships providing support services for pilotage operation. The piloting business of Shanghai Port has experienced rapid development with the improvement of the port, which is most evidently embodied in production amount of piloting. In 1978, we only piloted 5451 ships in Shanghai for the whole year, but in 1988, the figure jumped to 10,570, in 1998 to 20,940, in 2006 to 55,000 ships, in 2008 to 61,000 ships, in 2011, the association handled 61,000 ships, the highest record in the history of Shanghai Port.
In order to adapt to the rapid growth of pilotage operation, Shanghai Maritime Pilots’ Association has made continuous exploration in promotion of management level. In 2003, the association has got ISO certification conducted by DNV. In addition to ISO, the association has been engaged in the perfection of Safety Management System for many years, successfully shifting itself from experience-based management to the standard-based management by formulating pilot training, evaluation, technical assessment and a series of system standards.
In addition to the “software” upgrade of the management system, the association also made strides in piloting equipments, security management and other “hardware” facilities in recent years. The Pilot Boat “Hugangyin 11” is 107.95 meters long, and has a draft of 4.60 meters, possessing the ability of more than 20 days’ continuous operation at the mouth of the Yangtze River and accommodating up 100 pilots standby on board at most. She is by far the largest tonnage pilot boat in the country with the most complete equipments.
Shanghai Maritime Pilots’ Association is the member of International Maritime Pilot’s Association (IMPA). It is also the chairman unit of China Maritime Pilots Association. In May, 2014, the Presidnet of Shanghai Maritime Pilots’ Association Xue Yidong was elected as the President of China Maritime Pilots Association.
To sum up, with the Mission of “safeguard sovereignty, guarantee safety, efficient pilotage and excellent service”, the association is wholeheartedly committed to serving the building of Shanghai International Shipping Center, and is engaged in continuous innovation by relying on Shanghai Port’s development advantages. It is the persistent goal of all our staff to build the association into an international first-rate pilotage organization through all-round efforts.