https://www.mdpilots.com/about daily 0.75 2021-04-06 https://www.mdpilots.com/initiatives daily 0.75 2021-04-08 https://www.mdpilots.com/initiatives/project-one-787jx monthly 0.5 2019-08-22 https://www.mdpilots.com/initiatives/project-three-99rtb monthly 0.5 2019-08-22 https://www.mdpilots.com/initiatives/project-two-yxnb9 monthly 0.5 2019-08-22 https://www.mdpilots.com/initiatives/project-four-2yn4r monthly 0.5 2019-08-22 https://www.mdpilots.com/accountability daily 0.75 2024-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1622555992895-OVD6K4VL8ATHWRMDL26O/Majestic%2BMaersk.jpg Accountability - Crab cakes, rockfish, world-class sailing, and the United States Naval Academy are just a few of the many examples of the richness of life in the “land of pleasant living”—a life sustained by Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay! The Bay is also an important medium for world commerce. International cargo ships connect Baltimore to all points on the globe. The responsibility to govern and administer the laws that ensure safe and reliable pilotage in the Chesapeake Bay comes as a result of this commerce. Not only do these laws protect the vessels in transit and the Bay’s waters, but they also help protect the Bay from acts of terror. The State of Maryland and the Association of Maryland Pilots work together to ensure that the Laws of Maryland to protect the Chesapeake Bay are enforced. https://www.mdpilots.com/what-is-a-pilot daily 0.75 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1618164216129-F20MPFGK3RD444AZPJ9S/Annapolis%2BPilot.jpg What is a Pilot - The United States Supreme Court summarized the Pilot's job in an 1851 opinion: “A Pilot, so far as respects the navigation of the vessel in that part of the voyage which is his pilotage ground, is the temporary master charged with the safety of the vessel and cargo, and of the lives of those on board, and instructed with the command of the crew.” As clearly as the Supreme Court spoke in 1851, it was not the first governmental body to extoll the importance of Pilots. The King of England sought regulation when Maryland was a colony and the first Maryland legislative session regulated Pilots as one of its first acts in 1787. “A Pilot must have a memory of substance; but there are two higher qualities which he must also have. He must have good and quick judgment and decision, and a cool, calm courage that no peril can shake.” - Mark Twain https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1629318055501-3ZOS623D66X7XZSFUZ4O/Ladder+with+backpack.png What is a Pilot - Why are Pilots necessary? The commercial ships the Maryland Pilots navigate can be longer than four football fields, and are powered by massive engines that consume tons of dense fuel oil. Like an iceberg, most of the ship is underwater and unseen. In fact, so much of the ship may be submerged that the clearance between the bottom of the ship and the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay can be as little as a couple of feet. Ships with more than 47 feet of draft (how deep the ship sits in the water) routinely transit the 50’ main shipping channel. Maryland Pilots are men and women who are selected, licensed and regulated by the Maryland State Board of Pilots to guide ships on these passages. As a result of a highly competitive selection process and an extensive training program, the Pilots representing Marylanders today are among the best in the world at what they do. In addition, state-licensed Pilots maneuver the ships when docking, casting off from the pier, or otherwise moving anywhere in Maryland waters. The role of the Pilot is critical for many reasons. An unfortunate incident, like an oil spill, could cause a lasting environmental impact and since the Chesapeake Bay is a window to foreign trade, national security is an ever-present issue. https://www.mdpilots.com/history daily 0.75 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1629316782403-GGET37KL9FKSZZIF33HC/COQUETTE+for+PUBL.JPG History - Harbingers of Hope The first English passengers voyaging to the Southern Colonies found their first relief not in the sighting of land, but in the sight of a ship's mast- the mast of a Maryland pilot schooner. Those passengers (adventurers, debtors, those seeking religious freedoms) heard the New World first in the call of an Eastern Shore Pilot offering to guide the heavily laden English ships through the shoals and into safe harbor on the Chesapeake Bay. To the passengers this call meant the voyage was finally ending, and a new life of unlimited opportunities was beginning. To the crew, it meant a bit of rest in the ports of St. Mary's County and Annapolis. To the Captain, the call meant relief from the fear of running aground and the unpredictability of the Bay. While this harbinger of land was new to the passengers, it had become familiar to the veterans of the Atlantic passage. Always when approaching the Bay they were on the lookout for a pilot schooner. Maryland Pilots had been serving England's huge merchant fleet for nearly a century by the mid-1700s. Colonial records mention the Pilots providing safe, reliable and efficient service as early as 1640. In fact, piloting was one of the first professions practiced in the colonies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1618165098844-U73Z2NXOW1IIHG1R4RLN/dock_blue-bkgrd-200pixels.png History https://www.mdpilots.com/a-pilots-course daily 0.75 2024-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1618169456535-JM9ANEWLURNGXXLCYVO8/Patuxent%2BPilot%2BBoat.jpg A Pilot's Course Rung by rung, Captain Elizabeth A. Christman pulled herself up the Jacob's (rope) ladder which hung on the side of a giant sea-going merchant ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Every pull, every foothold symbolized each step of her long journey to becoming one of the most elite sea captains in the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/87fc2dbb-b07c-43da-b8ec-9b5c222b4e40/chesbaymap.JPG A Pilot's Course She would have to draw, from memory and in great detail, 10 nautical charts of the Bay. Her practical skill development would be supervised by State-licensed Pilots who would critique her every decision, day in and day out. It was a process for which she had long prepared. Captain Christman grew up in Norwich, New York. As a child, she fell in love with the ocean during her family vacations to the shore. When it was time to choose a college, the call of the sea made her choice easier. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1618170254548-5JURVR7Q3RCJ26DBOKU6/beth.jpg A Pilot's Course https://www.mdpilots.com/helpful-links daily 0.75 2024-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1617912497340-I4XDC92GBNN5XGDVBB2K/Ray+J+PB.jpg Helpful Links https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/5cc8f343-b0eb-43df-acdb-adb96770adb7/PILOT+ABOARD+for+PUBL.jpg Helpful Links https://www.mdpilots.com/home daily 1.0 2025-11-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1617909713397-SX5ICD3OSO7Y22KAFE5I/dock_blue-bkgrd-200pixels.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/d2cab82b-746b-45e9-a6a3-72a51ff0f7b6/Finn+Builder.jpg Home - The history of Maryland Pilots precedes even the Association's founding date by more than 147 years. A reference to Bay Pilots can be found in Maryland records dating back to 1640, and Pilotage laws were established during the first session of Maryland's legislature in 1787. Before the Association of Maryland Pilots was founded, pilots in small schooners offered piloting services to inbound ships. The first schooner to hail an inbound ship would win the right to board a Pilot and sail the ship safely to one of Maryland’s historic ports such as St. Mary’s City, Crisfield, Oxford, St. Michael’s, Cambridge, Solomon’s Island, Annapolis, Havre de Grace, Rock Hall, Chestertown, and Baltimore. The speed of small pilot schooners in the late 1700's led to the development of the Baltimore Clippers, the fastest vessels of their day. Maryland’s goodwill ambassador, the Pride of Baltimore II, is a replica of this class of vessel. During the war of 1812, the American naval war effort was supported by the extensive use of Baltimore Clippers that were commissioned as “privateers”. It has been recorded that these “privateers” captured or sank over 1700 British merchant vessels during the War. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1617912565759-OGLS1JXYK6JC7ZZT0J7X/Ray%2BJ%2BPB.jpg Home - The Port of Baltimore The Port of Baltimore ranks 1st nationally in automobiles and light trucks, 1st in Ro/Ro cargo, 1st in gypsum imports, 2nd in imported sugar, and 2nd in exported coal. Overall, Baltimore ranks 9th nationally in cargo value, and 11th in total tonnage (2019 data). More than 125,000 jobs in Maryland are related to the maritime industry. One ship can carry nearly 7,000 cars, 14,000 truck-sized 20’ containers, 3500 passengers & crew, or 1000 railcar loads of coal, sometimes valued at nearly $500 million. The least expensive overland route to the massive Midwest market starts at the Port of Baltimore. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1617912293752-HCD7EX8HEC7EH5HIE5BD/Patuxent%2BPilot%2BBoat.jpg Home - The Chesapeake Bay is Unique The Chesapeake Bay is the longest pilotage route on the United States’ East Coast, with nearly 200 miles of Bay waters. Ships longer than 4 football fields and with drafts of nearly 48‘ deep routinely transit the narrow ship channels leading to Baltimore that are only 50' in depth. More than 96% of all ships coming to Maryland are manned by foreign officers and crews, many from third world countries and 95% of all U.S. international cargo is carried by ships. Pilots are on the “front lines” protecting the environmental and ecological balance of the Chesapeake Bay by ensuring the safe passage of these large ships that carry huge quantities of oil and other hazardous materials. https://www.mdpilots.com/boards daily 0.75 2025-09-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1618166128175-52WWDA05N2458R8SS94V/Ships+Wheel+Logo.png Boards https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1639602062644-0J3T8GZ5QEGW1533EQND/Nielsen+Bio+Website.jpeg Boards - Captain Eric A. Nielsen, President Born and raised in Maryland, the President of the Association of Maryland Pilots, Captain Eric Nielsen - graduated as valedictorian in 1981 from the United States Merchant Marine Academy as a USCG-licensed Third Mate, and was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He then sailed with the Exxon tanker fleet, eventually obtaining his Unlimited Ocean Master’s License and serving as Chief Officer on Exxon’s chemical tankers, the most demanding and complex ships in the Exxon fleet. Captain Nielsen joined the Association in 1989 after being selected for apprenticeship by the Maryland State Board of Pilots. Following his five-year mandatory training, he was fully licensed by Maryland to pilot the world's largest ships and became a senior member in the Association. In 1996, Governor Parris Glendening appointed Captain Nielsen to the State Board of Pilots. https://www.mdpilots.com/contact-us daily 0.75 2022-03-28 https://www.mdpilots.com/environment daily 0.75 2021-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60343834f60aad18a36eb577/1622556433553-4IICHX3AXEMG46G6MM13/20121026_21apbs.jpg Environment Commercial ships, so important to America's role in the global economy, are almost exclusively foreign-owned, regulated, and crewed by foreign mariners. Often, only one or two of the ship’s top officers speak or understand the English language. What, then, would they know about Maryland's concern for the Bay, much less about Maryland's rules to protect it? The answer is simple. The Maryland General Assembly has made sure that an environmental guardian, the Maryland Pilot, is at the conn of all foreign ships. The crew is informed of those rules on every visit to the Bay by that guardian. State law requires the Maryland Pilots to inform the Captains of all commercial vessels transiting the Bay of the State’s environmental laws as well of the penalties for violating these laws. After many years of training, the highly skilled Maryland Pilots navigate these narrow channels because the risk of running aground could, among other things, cause an environmental disaster. These are serious matters to Maryland, the Nation, and to the Pilots. Maryland’s Pilots are responsible to Marylanders for the safe, reliable and efficient passage of commercial vessels on our Bay. https://www.mdpilots.com/about-1 daily 0.75 2025-06-10