Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 12, March 22, 2024
(a) In order to
be considered for licensing as a pilot, a pilot trainee must successfully
complete the training program conducted and supervised by the Pilot Evaluation
Committee for the Board. The Board shall issue a certificate of completion to a
pilot trainee only when it determines that the trainee has successfully
completed the pilot trainee training program. The Board may rely upon, but
shall not be bound by the recommendations of its Pilot Evaluation Committee in
determining whether a trainee has successfully completed the training program
or whether or when the trainee should be licensed as a pilot. The Board is not
required to license an individual as a pilot at any time after issuance of the
certificate of completion authorized by this subsection. If a license is
issued, it shall be issued to the most qualified trainee who has successfully
completed the training program. Order of completion of the program is not the
determining factor.
(b) The
training program prescribed herein shall include the following topics:
(1) area geography;
(2) port and waterway
configuration;
(3) hydrography
(channel depths and widths, bottom configuration);
(4) hydrology and hydraulics;
(5) tides and currents;
(6) winds and weather;
(7) aids to navigation (interaction with and
information they convey);
(8)
bottom composition;
(9) marine
facilities;
(10) other traffic and
operations (including commercial fishing vessels, recreational boating,
dredging and marine regattas);
(11)
air draft (for bridges and overhead wires);
(12) communications;
(13) applicable laws, rules and
regulations;
(14) marine traffic
regulation (including Vessel Traffic Service);
(15) local and seasonal traffic patterns and
densities;
(16) ship maneuvering
behavior for all vessel types to be piloted including hydrodynamic interactions
with respect to other vessels, facilities and channel bathymetry;
(17) advantages, limitations and effect on
shiphandling of various types of main propulsion and auxiliary maneuvering
machinery;
(18) shiphandling for
piloting, anchoring, docking and undocking, maneuvering with and without the
aid of tugs and emergency situations;
(19) tug control (for maneuvering
assistance);
(20) use of ground
tackle to aid maneuvering;
(21)
navigation systems (traditional and electronic);
(22) radar systems (manual and automated);
and
(23) marine and environmental
safety requirements;
(24) The
causes and hazards of fatigue, the means of avoiding or alleviating fatigue,
the responsibility of pilots and trainees to ensure that they are rested prior
to an assignment, the need for a sufficient recovery period after awakening,
and the duty of pilots and trainees to refuse an assignment if they are too
fatigued to complete an assignment safely.
(c) The training program for each pilot
trainee shall consist of a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years of
training. The program may include classroom training and training provided by
outside contractors and shall include assignments to ride as an observer on
tugs engaged in ship assist work. In addition, the program shall include a
minimum of 300 trips while under the direct supervision of a pilot or inland
pilot, riding as observer or maneuvering vessels of various sizes and classes
on the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun. A minimum of 50 trips shall
be with members of the Pilot Evaluation Committee and at least 10 of those
trips shall be within the last three months before the committee recommendation
that the trainee be issued a certificate of completion. Pilot trainee
assignments shall be under the general supervision of the Pilot Evaluation
Committee and may be made by the Port Agent, his or her designee, or a member
of the Pilot Evaluation Committee.
(d) A stipend, funded by a pilot trainee
surcharge to pilotage rates, may be paid to pilot trainees. The amount of the
stipend, if any, paid to a pilot trainee shall be determined solely by the
Board, provided that trainees at similar phases of the program shall receive an
equal stipend, if any stipend is given.
(e) A pilot or inland pilot supervising a
pilot trainee shall prepare an evaluation report on the performance of the
pilot trainee to the Pilot Evaluation Committee at the times and in the manner
prescribed by the Committee.
(f)
The Board may dismiss a pilot trainee from the training program at any time
during the first year of training without cause. After the first year of
training, a pilot trainee may be dismissed from the training program if the
Board, after a hearing comparable to that provided to a public employee under
Government Code §
11126(a),
determines that he or she:
(1) no longer
meets the requirements of Section
213;
(2) has violated the Code or these
regulations;
(3) has failed to
carry out the terms and conditions of the training program;
(4) has willfully disobeyed a lawful order of
the Board, the Pilot Evaluation Committee, the Port Agent, his or designee or
the pilot supervising his or her training;
(5) committed an act of misconduct while on
duty as a trainee;
(6) was
intoxicated or under the influence of a substance which appreciably impaired
his or her ability to conduct the duties of a pilot trainee while on duty as a
trainee;
(7) failed to meet the
conditions of probation within the period prescribed, if placed on probation
under subsection (g) of this section; or
(8) failed a chemical test for dangerous
drugs, as defined in Section
202.
(g) A pilot trainee may, on such conditions
and for such period of time as the Board may impose, be suspended from the
training program or be placed on probation if the Board determines that such
action is warranted because of:
(1) a change
in the mental or physical health or good moral character of the pilot
trainee;
(2) a lapse, suspension or
revocation of the trainee's U. S. Coast Guard license;
(3) misconduct while on duty as a trainee;
or
(4) inadequate performance in
the training program.
(h) In determining whether a pilot trainee
has successfully completed the training program or whether the trainee should
be licensed as a pilot, the Board and Pilot Evaluation Committee shall consider
whether the trainee has met each of the following:
(1) All statutory prerequisites for being
licensed as a pilot;
(2) Maintained
an average score of at least 4.0 on a 5.0 scale on the evaluations by members
of the Pilot Evaluation Committee during each of the last three (3) months
immediately preceding the Committee's recommendations; and
(3) Has adequately demonstrated:
(A) local knowledge for the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun, including:
1.
limits of all local pilotage areas;
2. names, positions and characteristics of
all buoys, beacons, lights, markers, fog signals and other fixed aids to
navigation;
3. names, locations and
characteristics of all channels, shoals, headlands and points;
4. names, locations, characteristics and
vertical clearances of all bridges, cables and other overhead obstructions to
navigation;
5. depths of
water;
6. set, rate, rise and
duration of tides, characteristics of tidal currents, and use of tide tables
and real time tide data collection system;
7. courses and distances for each
channel;
8. names, locations and
characteristics of anchorages;
9.
names, locations and waterside characteristics of all berths, terminals and
docking facilities; and
10. systems
of radio navigational warning broadcasts and the type of information likely to
be included.
(B) a
working knowledge of the fundamentals of shiphandling, including:
1. shiphandling in piloting waters;
2. anchoring;
3. docking and undocking;
4. appropriate use of tugs;
5. shiphandling in emergency situations;
and
6. appropriate vessel speed
control.
(C) bridge
presence, including proper and timely handling of all shipboard communications
using standard terminology;
(D)
proper and timely handling of communications with other vessels, Vessel Traffic
Service and other entities external to the vessel;
(E) situational awareness, contingency
planning and the ability to keep the vessel on track;
(F) appropriate and timely use of bridge
equipment, including shipboard navigation and collision-avoidance aids, and
knowledge of their capabilities and limitations;
(G) appropriate response to vessel
traffic;
(H) familiarity with
maneuvering characteristics of all types of ships that routinely enter the
pilotage grounds, including knowledge of capabilities and limitations of
typical propulsion and steering systems on board such vessels;
(I) understanding environmental factors
affecting ship performance, such as wind, current, tide, channel configuration,
water depth, bottom, bank and ship interaction including squat;
(J) familiarity with bridge team management,
including master-pilot relationship;
(K) familiarity with all relevant
international, national, state and local laws and regulations applicable to
navigational safety, rules of the road, pollution prevention, and contingency
planning;
(L) familiarity with
lines of communication to local authorities, including the U.S. Coast Guard,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, State Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response
and the Board.
(M) familiarity with
personal techniques for survival at sea and personal safety, including
emergency first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and hypothermia
remediation; and
(N) consistency of
acceptable performance.
Note: Authority cited: Section 1154, Harbors and Navigation
Code. Reference: Sections 1101(e), 1114.5, 1171.5, 1175, 1177, 1178 and 1196.5,
Harbors and Navigation Code.
Note: Authority cited: Section
1154,
Harbors and Navigation Code. Reference: Sections
1101(e),
1114.5,
1171.5,
1175,
1177
and
1178,
Harbors and Navigation Code.
