Review of pilotage processes and indicators in pilotage organisations

A questionnaire survey was conducted to find out how pilotage organisations in different countries assess and measure the quality, efficiency and safety of their operations. An e-mail survey was sent to 54 pilotage organisations in Australia, Canada, and Western and Northern Europe. All International Standard for Maritime Pilot Organizations (ISPO) members were also included. The survey yielded 13 answers from eight countries. The organisations were questioned about their standards and management systems, standard operating procedures and measuring tools. According to the query, most of the pilotage organisations use standard-based management systems such as ISO 9001 or the ISPO. The main measuring tools for pilotage comprise of statistical information concerning pilotage and the organisations, customer feedback surveys and financial results. The results of the survey were used as a guideline for developing a pilotage process model and indicators for measuring the effectiveness and quality of the pilotage process for the Finnish pilotage company Finnpilot Pilotage Ltd.