SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The San Francisco Bar Pilots (SFBP) today announced that Assemblyman Sandré R. Swanson and SFBP have decided to delay their legislative effort to establish rates to provide a second pilot to safely navigate the world’s largest container vessels into the Port of Oakland. Assemblyman Swanson’s AB 2287 would have provided a partial fee for a second pilot that would operate specialty positioning equipment to ensure safe passage. The need for a second pilot was based on an independent study conducted by the Port of Oakland and validated by the State Board of Pilot Commissioners.
“Assemblyman Sandré Swanson has demonstrated exceptional leadership on this critical and growing safety issue, and we are grateful for all he is doing to protect the shipping community and San Francisco Bay’s precious environment,” SFPB President Captain Bruce Horton, said. “Our top priority is safety and facilitating the movement of goods for worldwide import and export. When it became clear that the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) and other special interest groups did not share our commitment to safety by engaging in good faith negotiations to find a compromise, we decided that it would be best to continue to try and work with the stakeholders to find a solution. However, safety will remain a top priority to ensure that the Bay, and the environment, is protected.”
AB 2287 was very narrow in its scope and would have affected less than one percent of Bay shipping traffic (fewer than 10 vessels annually). However, as shipping industry representatives continue to push for larger ships and higher profits, the numbers of these ships could clog Ports in the future. An equitable solution that protects shipping companies and San Francisco Bay would ensure that this growth could happen while minimizing the risk of a catastrophic accident.
“At no cost to taxpayers, the San Francisco Bar Pilots perform an important and arduous job moving ships the size of the Empire State Building and the width of a ten-lane freeway, into and out of the Port of Oakland,” Captain Horton said. “I am committed to working to forge a solution to what is one of the Bay’s biggest long-term safety challenges. We will not put California’s economy and environment at risk.”
Established in 1850, the San Francisco Bar Pilots consist of 57 pilots that work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in all weather, to ensure that vessels of all sizes, from 100-foot tugs to 1,000-foot supertankers, including 1,200 foot container and bulk cargo ships, military vessels and cruise ships, are safely navigated in the San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun Bays. Vessels of 750 gross tons or more, and all foreign vessels, are required to have a pilot on board to enter Monterey Bay or the Golden Gate.