Industry representatives from marine pilotage and the wider maritime sector have convened in Cairns for the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute (AMPI) Regional Ports & Pilotage Conference 2025.

The two-day conference saw a range of guest speakers from across maritime and related sectors share ideas, developments, and discussion points on matters relevant to marine pilotage across Australasia and internationally.

The 2025 conference focused on Coastal and Reef Pilotage, mental health & peer support, cruise ship pilotage, critical incident response & support, and safe pilot transfers.

President Josephine Clark opened the first day of the conference with an address, highlighting the event was the first to be held in Queensland since 2017.

The President highlighted that marine pilotage is at its core a public service, necessary for the safety of life, port infrastructure, local economies, and the environment, and said that as a service it is needed more than ever.

CEO of Ports North Richard Stevenson spoke on marine pilotage at the port operator, including its team figures and delivery areas, mentioning that Ports North completed over 1900 jobs in 2024, from a team of 14 Ports North-employed pilots.

Conrad Adams, principal advisor of coastal pilotage at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, delivered the conference an update of the current review of Marine Order 54, including a look at what has so far been agreed in principle.

Mr Adams shared that an industry reference group is reviewing and considering current practices, and added that “collaboration with the coastal pilot industry will be a key component of success overall”.

Captain Vikram Hede, a marine pilot from Auriga Group, shared an overview of pilotage through the Great Barrier Reef, including the history of pilotage in Queensland and the GBR region, including the history of draft limits through the Torres Strait.

Mr Hede mentioned that more than half of the pilotage transits through the Torres Strait are bulk carriers.

He included a quote from the book “Reef Pilots” by Captain John C.H. Foley, which described a typical coastal pilot as “Perhaps a weather-beaten seaman peering with weary eyes into the murky darkness seeking out the tell-tale edge of an island or rock to guide him past the next sunken danger”.

Captain Warwick Conlin, also from Auriga, discussed cruise pilotage in the coastal and reef environment. Captain Conlin outlined the role of Auriga Cruise pilots, and spoke about regulatory aspects and current issues in the Kimberley.

Captain Conlin said, “Much of what we do is keeping the ships with the regularly arrangements out of trouble, particularly the visiting ships coming from overseas”.

Director of Smartship, Captain peter Litstrup, spoke on the concept of getting bigger cruise ships into ports.

Senior marine pilot Captain Trond Kildal spoke on cruise ships and dual pilots in an integrated bridge, explaining that Cairns has traditionally been a cruise port for smaller ships with a max LOA of 200 metres, and experienced an average of 25 calls a year until 2009.

Captain Carl Robins is a marine pilot from Southampton, United Kingdom, and delivered a talk detailing cruise ship pilotage in that region.

Captain Robins explained that the cruise ship industry is constantly evolving, with Southampton seeing new cruise vessels year on year, with pilots required to adapt to the ongoing evolution.

Captain Robins questioned if pilots need more simulation time, and that port infrastructure will be required to adapt to the changes. Captain Robins also discussed bridge resource management and how it has evolved in the past quarter century.

Speakers in the afternoon session centered around mental health and peer support.

Psychologist Keith McGregor gave an alternative perspective on psychological safety for pilots.

Mr McGregor made the comparison, “Marine pilots don’t hesitate to call for help when they need an extra tug- it should be the same for calling for help with regards to mental health”.

Garry Dodd, Senior Chaplain at the Newcastle Mission to Seafarers highlighted the importance of ship visitors offering support to seafarers who spend long stretches away from their homes and families.

Finishing the days sessions was Mark Le Busque, a leadership coach, who spoke on rewiring and humanizing leadership, challenging the term “work-life balance”, instead promoting the idea of Life Design.

Following the sessions saw the evening event’s Gala Dinner.