Janelle Irwin Taylor
During a ride-along on a harbor pilot boat, House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell witnessed firsthand the work harbor pilots conduct and its importance.
Embarking into the shipping channel that travels through Tampa Bay, under the Skyway Bridge and into the Gulf of Mexico, Driskell watched as the harbor pilot boat approached a massive cargo ship, allowing the harbor pilot on board to leave the cargo ship and board the smaller vessel after safely guiding the ship through the channel. Then she watched as they did it again.
“You start to understand we have ships that come to our ports from all over the world,” she said. “They don’t know Tampa Bay. Our harbor pilots are the ones who know our waters best and can guide the ships safely.”
Driskell said the experience emphasized Tampa’s unique waters and “how we can best support our maritime industries and keep our port as competitive as possible.”
“When you consider other states are making significant investments in their ports, we don’t want to fall behind,” she said. “Florida should absolutely be No. 1 for maritime commerce.”
And the harbor pilots, she said, are an essential part of commerce in the Tampa Bay region.
For those unacquainted with the shipping process, when large ships — whether a cruise ship, barge or other large container vessel — enter or leave a port, such as Port Tampa Bay, it is not the captain on board who navigates those local waters. Instead, local harbor pilots highly trained in the area’s water depths, currents, weather patterns and other hazards board the vessel and ensure it safely approaches or leaves the port.
When they’ve safely completed their work, they disembark from the larger vessel and return to the harbor pilot boat to return to the port.
While shipping captains are also well-trained in maritime navigation, they may not always be as familiar with local conditions — knowledge that is necessary to ensure safe navigation, particularly in high-traffic port approaches such as Port Tampa Bay.
Harbor pilots undergo extensive training and must demonstrate expertise, including through a series of rigorous exams.
“I think it’s important for elected officials when they’re making decisions on budgets and money to know what goes on across the bay,” said Terry Fluke, Executive Director of the Tampa Bay Pilots Association.
“Every politician talks about the economy, but when you get them out there to actually see it and feel it and touch it, they kind of get it. It kind of clicks,” Fluke added. “To see a huge ship with thousands of containers on top of it, it brings it home. It’s around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These are smart people. They do the math.”
And that’s what Fluke said he thinks Driskell saw.
“It’s an investment, really, for the citizens of West Central Florida and the economy,” he continued. “And all those ships we saw coming in and out today can’t come in and out without a pilot. It’s all about expertise and local knowledge.”
Port Tampa Bay supports more than 192,000 jobs and generates nearly $35 billion in economic value, according to the port. Its economic activity is driven through passenger cruise business, cargo operations, infrastructure and various partnerships.
