Turf War Brewing in Boston Harbor

Just beneath the surface of Boston's picturesque and normally tranquil waters is a disagreement which could redraw the relationship between local harbor pilots and their docking master brethren. The dispute has, up until now, largely escaped the glare of the media spotlight, despite the heavy stakes involved. What happens here could also affect what happens in other ports across the Northeast and beyond.

At the heart of this discord are two Mass. State Senate bills, numbers 1330 and 2204. Senate Bill 1300 outlines a formalized requirement for docking pilots in Boston harbor and Senate Bill 2204 (amended 2391) outlining proposed rates of local pilotage, amounting to increases in compensation, largely based on the Consumer Price Index. Both bills are mired in the Senate, with mixed chances for passage during this session. The first bill has raised the hackles of local harbor pilots, and the second, according to Dave Clark of Boston Towing & Transportation, is "on hold, and did not go through the normal channels of the Boston Marine Society and the local Pilot Commission." As for the pilot's quest to achieve a rate increase, he says, "The pilots should get a rate increase, consistent with what is reasonable, through the proper channels."

Senate Bill 1330, Clark says, was intended to codify and provide official language to something that the docking pilots had been doing all along, but the pilots have misconstrued it to mean that the bill seeks to eliminate the pilots from certain pieces of business. According to Matt Chamberlain, an employee of the docking pilots, "Sea pilots make a substantial amount of money and are seeking more by attempting to assume the duties and responsibilities of a docking pilot. Additionally, sea pilots have just submitted legislation for a pay raise. This raise would increase wages by 30% over the next 3 years. This can easily be perceived as excessive in a port which is falling victim to declining merchant traffic. Massport's apparent lack of involvement is also cause for concern. Clearly, there should be substantial concern with regard to shipping commerce."

Sloan says that the disagreement has escalated to the point at which Boston pilots are now directing business towards their competitors, and then performing the docking duties in addition to the pilotage, in some cases. Boston pilot officials acknowledged yesterday that that they were indeed performing some docking duties. They also reported that Boston Towing refuses to provide a tug boat, unless a docking pilot is also required, something not necessarily specified by their competitors. And, they contend, "State pilotage rates specify a fee for docking pilot services, hence they would be in dereliction of their duties if one was required (and was not available ? which can be the case) and they did not provide the service." Additionally, the Boston pilot's nominal fee for providing docking and undocking is set at $350, which they contend is often less than that charged by the docking pilots employed by Boston Towing.

It is no secret that Boston has lost some maritime traffic in recent years. Rising port costs, tide restrictions, and daylight only passage areas have been cited as just some of the reasons. Only 4 years ago, one foreign car manufacturer shifted all northeast imports to Rhode Island, resulting in a net loss of some 60 ships a year for the port of Boston. Critics of the pilot's request for a raise have pointed to this as another nail in the coffin and contend that the port can ill afford to raise any fees in this highly competitive market. Officials of the Boston Pilots Association counter that they have not received a raise since 2001, and that event took three years to get approved. Boston pilots are not among the top tier groups in compensation nationwide, and the raise that they are seeking equates to approximately 11.25%, nowhere near the 30 % alleged by others opposed to the raise increase. And, say the harbor pilots, the port has more than made up for the loss of the car carrier traffic with the annual addition of 15 LNG movements, approximately 50 COSCO port calls, and markedly increased refined products traffic from CITGO.

The docking pilots insist that several docking pilot jobs will be eliminated, if the sea pilots continue to take vessels from the sea buoy all the way to the berth. Sea pilots, they say, in most cases, have little or no tug experience. Hence, Dave Clark says, "The need for the docking pilots is very real." Yesterday, however, it was revealed that a number of the Boston pilots do possess the required towing endorsement on their licenses, a qualification which the docking pilots have asserted is a key ingredient to providing competent docking service.

As is the case with most business disputes, it eventually comes down to the money. It is also clear that real tension exists between two groups of professional mariners who must coexist and work together in the Port of Boston, ensuring the safety of the millions of people who live and work only a stone's throw from the port, and of the floating giants that they guide to and from the berths. When it is all said and done, the Massachusetts State Legislature will likely have the final say on how, when, and where a highly regulated group such as the Boston pilots can compete with a private business enterprise, in an environment where the safety and welfare of the public is at stake.