AS recently retired Brisbane Marine Pilot with 35 years pilotage experience in several jurisdictions I find the recent article in the DCN Poseidon Sea Pilots take the reins at Brisbane quite sad for the pilotage industry.
Mr Buck of Poseidon Sea Pilots suggests that BMP was some kind of boys’ club. I find this comment offensive. For the past 15-plus years, the company has always employed the most competent person using a most rigorous selection process. It did not matter if you were black, white, male, female or other. I am of aboriginal descent and testimony to this fact.
And, to my knowledge PSP pilots’ on-water experience before 1 January was running around on an 80-metre, highly manoeuvrable twin-screw dredge around the port. This would no doubt raise the eyebrows of most practising pilots around the world.
Those of us who worked at BMP were very proud of our achievements and by any fair judgement our company were considered practitioners of world-best practise in pilotage.
And finally, I found the comments by the safety regulator, Maritime Safety Queensland, in the article to be astounding.
The half-truth statements made in this article are not helpful.
Regards,
Wayne Burke
Retired Brisbane Marine Pilot
