Pilot Rate Updates: Houston, Boston, Long Island Sound
- Houston
In a surprisingly easy bid to increase their rates on the Houston Ship Channel, Houston ship pilots won unanimous approval of their request by the Port of Houston Authority Commission last month. The news comes in sharp contrast to the fight endured by Galveston Pilots just 8 months prior to that. Rates for guiding ships on the Houston Ship Channel have increased 6 percent, effective January 1st of this year, with subsequent increases of 7 and 8 percent scheduled for the next two years, as well. The Houston Pilots are already one of the best compensated groups in the country.
In April, the Board of Pilot Commissioners in Texas voted to award the Galveston-Texas City Pilot Association a 10 percent rate increase that was expected to raise its annual revenues to about $10.6 million. The increase came just days after the same commission had unanimously voted to deny a request for a 27 percent rate increase. But, immediately following that vote, it began considering other options. The sometimes contentious rate hearings produced the compromised rate increase--a result with which neither side was happy.
Since successfully raising their rates by about 36 percent in 2000, the Galveston pilots have been unable to convince the industry and the pilot commission that they warranted additional pay. The latest request to raise their rates by 27 percent evoked strong industry opposition and the pilots claim that the new compromise tariff only recoups the increased costs of operating. Industry trade groups representing a wide array of maritime interests from Lake Charles to Brownsville strongly opposed the rate increase proposal. At the time, Galveston pilots were thought to be making about $300,000 per year. In effect, the commissioners granted them a 10 percent increase in revenues, but this was expected to produce no real increase in the association’s net distributable income.
- Boston
Boston Marine Pilots continue to await their first increase in the past 7 years. Their request for an 11.25 percent increase is, as this newsletter is released, still in committee. The exact same bill passed both the Massachusetts Senate and House in 2006, but presidential hopeful and then-governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney let the bill die on his desk, along with a slew of other financial items, as he departed office. MarEx sources close to the fray say that the bill could go to a vote sometime in the first quarter of this year.
- Long Island sound
The Long Island Sound Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) Pilots are inching closer to their first rate increase in 25 years. Already passed by the New York side of the equation, the bill awaits approval in Connecticut where it originated in the first place. All indications are that the long and arduous process will be completed soon, possibly before the end of the first quarter. The MOA pilots, under the joint supervision of the states of Connecticut and New York, are widely recognized as probably the most poorly compensated and equipped group in the country.