California Board of Pilot Commissioners
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 25, 1850 |
| Headquarters | 660 Davis Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 |
| Employees | 4 permanent full-time staff, contractors |
| Annual budget | $2.5 million (2017-18) |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | http://www.bopc.ca.gov/ |
Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun is the California state agency responsible for licensing and regulating pilots within one of the largest harbors in the world and the tributary Sacramento River delta. It licenses and regulates up to 60 pilots of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association.[1] They are called "bar pilots" because they maneuver ships across a large and dangerous sand bar just outside the Golden Gate at the mouth of San Francisco Bay.
The Board of Commissioners was created in 1850 during the first session of the California State Legislature. Once an independent agency, the Board of Commissioners became a department of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency in 2009 and currently is part of the California State Transportation Agency. Surcharges paid by shippers on pilotage fees finance the work of the Commission, making it completely self-supporting.
Jurisdiction
The commission's jurisdiction includes all of the bays and ports in the
Commissioners
The commission has eight members appointed by the governor of California as follows.
- Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency who serves ex officio
- Three public members who are neither pilots nor work for companies that use pilots
- Two licensed pilots
- Two industry members, one from the tanker and one from the dry cargo shipping industry.
The first President of the Pilot Commission was
History and significant incidents
The Board of Pilot Commissioners does not conduct a pilotage service, nor does it or has it ever owned or operated pilot vessels used by its licensees to board on and off ships. However some of the history of pilot boats used on San Francisco Bay may be of interest to the reader:
Some of the pilot boats used in San Francisco Bay have independent histories. The motorboat
The container ship COSCO Busan struck the fender system of Delta Tower of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge at 8:30 a.m. on 7 November 2007, causing damage to the ship as well as slight damage to the tower fender system.[7] The ship's hull was breached, with damage to a water ballast tank and two fuel tanks, with approximately 53,653 gallons of fuel oil leaked and environmental contamination from the oil spill.[7] The accident was investigated by the Board of Pilot Commissioners as well as by the US Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigation by the Pilot Commission found misconduct by the licensed pilot in the form of pilot error in navigating the vessel and moved to revoke the pilot's license. However, the pilot surrendered his license before a hearing was held. The investigations by the Coast Guard and NTSB also found the pilot at fault. Neither investigation faulted the Commission's licensing nor oversight of the pilot in question.
In 2011, the Commission received and accepted a landmark study on pilot fitness, conducted by Dr. Robert Kosnik, B.Sc, M.D., D.I.H. of the University of California, San Francisco. This study formed the basis of new regulations concerning pilot fitness determinations within the jurisdiction of the Board and has the potential to set a new standard worldwide on pilot fitness for duty.[8]
See also
References
- ^ San Francisco Bar Pilots Association.
- ^ McKoon-Hennick, Kathleen (1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form / Schooner Zodiac; Schooner California" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Pilot Schooner California". Pacific Marine Review. 29 (3). Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast: 114–115. March 1932. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "San Francisco Bar Pilots". Pacific Marine Review. 32 (4). Pacific American Steamship Association / Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast: 106–107. April 1935. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ Schooner Zodiac History
- ^ "Schooner Adventuress National Historic Landmark Study". National Park Service. 1989-04-11.
- ^ a b Commandant, United States Coast Guard 2009, p. 1.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Bibliography
- Commandant, United States Coast Guard (2 March 2009), Report of Investigation into the Allision of the COSCO Busan With the Delta Tower of the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay on November 7, 2007 (PDF), United States Coast Guard, retrieved 9 November 2014
External links
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