Finland: Ministry of Transport and Communications has published the Pilotage Act

Ministry of Transport and Communications Finland has published the Pilotage Act.

Objectives of the Act

The objective of this Act is to enhance maritime safety and fairway navigation competence and to prevent the detrimental environmental impacts arising from vessel traffic.

Scope

This Act contains provisions on the obligation to use a pilot, the duties and responsibilities of pilots, the competence required of the holders of personal licences, the rights and responsibilities of the pilotage company and on assessing pilotage examinations.

This Act applies to Finnish waters and the leased area of the Saimaa Canal.

Unless otherwise specifically provided, the provisions of this Act on ships also apply to integrated tug/barge combinations.

Compulsory pilotage

Notwithstanding what is provided in the international obligations binding on Finland, compulsory pilotage applies to ships in the manner provided in or under this Act.

Compulsory pilotage applies to ships and integrated tug/barge combinations with a length overall of more than 50 metres and non-rigid combinations in which the maximum combined length of the ships exceeds 50 metres when they operate in the compulsory pilotage area, subject to the provisions concerning the limits of the compulsory pilotage in specific VTS fairways.

However, ships carrying cargo referred to in Chapter VII, Part D, of the Annex to the SOLAS Convention, which contains irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium or certain types of radioactive waste and that is carried in accordance with the IMDG Code are subject to compulsory pilotage in the Finnish compulsory pilotage area.

In VTS fairways, compulsory pilotage applies to ships the size or cargo of which, in relation to the fairway they use at any time, constitutes a significant risk to maritime safety, the environment, human health or human lives.

When the risk concerning the ship and the fairway are assessed, consideration shall be given to the length, width and draught of the ship in relation to the characteristics of the fairway and the harmful or hazardous nature of the cargo carried by the ship.

If the ship enters the Finnish compulsory pilotage area by using a VTS fairway or with the intention of directly joining a VTS fairway at the start of the VTS fairway, compulsory pilotage shall only start at the pilotage limit of the fairway in question.

When the ship leaves the Finnish compulsory pilotage area using the VTS fairway or its imaginary extension, compulsory pilotage ends at the pilotage limit of the VTS fairway that the ship uses to reach open sea.

However, compulsory pilotage does not apply to:

1. Finnish government ships;
2. ferries specified in section 6 of the Highways Act (503/2005) when the ferries operate as an extension of a road;
3. Russian ships when they only operate in the Russian part of the Saimaa Canal; or
4. timber floating in the Saimaa waterways.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency may, for justified reasons pertaining to safety or environmental protection, decide that a specific master or a specific ship shall use a pilot.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency shall issue further regulations on the limits of the compulsory pilotage area referred to in subsection 2, fairway-specific limits of the compulsory pilotage referred to in subsection 3 and on the fairway-specific pilotage limits referred to in subsection 4.

Exemptions from compulsory pilotage

Notwithstanding the provisions in section 4 above, ships are exempted from compulsory pilotage in Finnish fairways when:

1. the ship’s bridge is manned by at least one person with an obligation to supervise actions concerning the steering and handling of the ship, and this person holds a PEC which includes an exemption for the ship and the fairway in question; and
   
   a) the combined total of the bulk cargo harmful to marine environment carried by the ship and the fuel oils or other hydrocarbons on the ship do not exceed 3,000 tonnes;
   
   b) the ship is carrying in bulk or as fuel intended for use on the ship, a maximum of 1,000 cubic metres of liquefied gases or substances referred to in Chapter 19 of the Code of the International Maritime Organization for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, and comparable liquefied gases; or
   
   c) the ship is carrying a maximum of 400 passengers;
2. the ship is a ship that in normal conditions is escorted from or to port by a tug and the ship’s bridge is manned by at least two persons holding PECs and these persons hold a PEC which includes an exemption for the ship and the fairway in question and these persons have an obligation to supervise actions concerning the steering and handling of the ship and at least one of the persons is in addition to a PEC holder, a qualified escort tug operator;
3. a ship other than that specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 if the ship’s bridge is manned by at least two persons holding PECs, which include an exemption for the ship and fairway in question and these two persons have an obligation to supervise actions concerning the steering and handling of the ship;
4. the ship is other than that specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 if the following conditions are met:
   
   a) the ship regularly operates in the fairway in question at least on a weekly basis;
   
   b) the master of the ship holds a PEC which includes an exemption for the ship and the fairway in question;
   
   c) the ship’s bridge is manned by at least two deck officers supervising the actions concerning the steering and handling of the ship and at least one of them holds a PEC which includes an exemption for the ship and the fairway in question and one of the deck officers has steered the ship on at least 10 voyages in the fairway in question in both directions;
   
   d) the combined total of the cargo harmful to marine environment carried by the ship in bulk and the fuel oils or other hydrocarbons on the ship does not exceed 3,000 tonnes, or the cargo carried by the ship in bulk or the substances on the ship intended for use as fuel, referred to Chapter 19 of the Code of the International Maritime Organization for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, and comparable liquefied gases do not exceed 1,000 cubic metres.

However, the bridge of a ship that is chartered to provide icebreaking services specified in section 10 a of the Act on the Ice Classes of Ships and Icebreaker Assistance shall be manned by a person who holds a PEC which includes an exemption from compulsory pilotage in the VTS area in question and who has completed the training specified in section 61, subsection 2, paragraphs 1—3, or by a person who holds a PEC which includes an exemption from compulsory pilotage in any VTS area and who has completed the training specified in section 61, and by at least one additional deck officer.

However, ships carrying cargo referred to in Chapter VII, Part D of the Annex to the SOLAS Convention that contains irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium or certain types of radioactive waste and that is carried in accordance with the IMDG Code cannot be exempted from compulsory pilotage.

An additional requirement for granting the exemption is that the fairway is dimensioned so that the ship can be safely navigated in the fairway.

Before the ship enters Finnish waters, the master of the ship or the master’s agent shall, using the electronic maritime information management system or by other means, notify the appropriate VTS centre that the ship does not use a pilot for reasons specified in subsection 1.

The numbers of the PECs held by the persons taking part in the actions concerning the steering and handling of the ship on the bridge or the persons supervising the actions shall be appended to the notification.

This document (561/2023) was published on 5 September 2023 and is effective from 1 September 2023.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):

Pilotage Act