Interim Order Respecting Waivers of Compulsory Pilotage Granted by the Pacific Pilotage Authority

From: Transport Canada

Whereas the Minister of Transport believes that the annexed Interim Order Respecting Waivers of Compulsory Pilotage Granted by the Pacific Pilotage Authority is required to deal with an urgent issue related to the provision of pilotage services that poses a significant risk to safety, human health or the environment;

And whereas the provisions of the annexed Interim Order may be contained in a regulation made under the Pilotage ActFootnote a;

Therefore, the Minister of Transport makes the annexed Interim Order Respecting Waivers of Compulsory Pilotage Granted by the Pacific Pilotage Authority under subsection 52.2(1)Footnote b of the Pilotage ActFootnote a.

Ottawa, November 4, 2024

Minister of Transport,

Anita Anand

Terminology  

1 Unless the context requires otherwise, words and expressions used in this Interim Order have the same meaning as in the General Pilotage Regulations.

Section 25.10 of the General Pilotage Regulations

2 The effect of section 25.10 of the General Pilotage Regulations is suspended and section 25.10 as set out in the schedule applies.

Schedule

(Section 2)

Waiver of Compulsory Pilotage

25.10 (1) The Pacific Pilotage Authority may, on application, waive compulsory pilotage in respect of a ship in any of the following circumstances:

  1. (a) the ship is in distress;
  2. (b) a person on board the ship requires medical evacuation;
  3. (c) the ship is engaged in rescue or salvage operations;
  4. (d) the ship is seeking refuge; or
  5. (e) a licensed pilot is not available to perform the functions of a pilot and the following conditions have been met:
    • (i) the owner, master or agent of the ship has complied with sections 25.12 and 25.13, and
    • (ii) all persons in charge of the deck watch are familiar with the route and the marine traffic control system in the compulsory pilotage area that the ship is entering.

(2) The Pacific Pilotage Authority may waive compulsory pilotage in respect of a ship that

  1. (a) is warping and is not using its engines or a tug except as a line boat for the handling of the ship’s lines;
  2. (b) is proceeding directly — and, if applicable, in accordance with an established traffic separation scheme — to a pilot boarding station located within a compulsory pilotage area for the purpose of embarking a licensed pilot; or
  3. (c) is proceeding directly — and, if applicable, in accordance with an established traffic separation scheme — out of a compulsory pilotage area after disembarking a licensed pilot at a pilot boarding station located within that area.

(3) The Pacific Pilotage Authority may, on application, waive compulsory pilotage in respect of a ship of less than 10,000 gross tonnage in Area 1 if, as of the day on which the application is made, every person in charge of the deck watch

  1. (a) holds the certificates that are required by Part 2 of the Marine Personnel Regulations or, if the ship is not Canadian, equivalent certificates;
  2. (b) has regularly completed, within the preceding 60 months, voyages in the Authority’s region or the coastal trade;
  3. (c) in the case of a waiver for the portion of Area 1 west of the New Westminster railway bridge, has completed, within the preceding 24 months, five return voyages through that portion of Area 1, of which the Authority was given prior notice,
    1. (i) with a licensed pilot, or
    2. (ii) with a person in charge of the deck watch who has previously completed five return voyages, of which the Authority was given prior notice, through that portion of Area 1 with a licensed pilot; and
  4. (d) in the case of a waiver for the portion of Area 1 east of the New Westminster railway bridge, has completed, within the preceding 24 months, 10 return voyages through that portion of Area 1, of which the Authority was given prior notice,
    1. (i) with a licensed pilot, or
    2. (ii) with a person in charge of the deck watch who has previously completed 10 return voyages, of which the Authority was given prior notice, through that portion of Area 1 with a licensed pilot.

(4) The Pacific Pilotage Authority may, on application, waive compulsory pilotage in respect of a ship of less than 10,000 gross tonnage in Area 2, 3, 4 or 5, if, as of the day on which the application is made, every person in charge of the deck watch

  1. (a) holds the certificates that are required by Part 2 of the Marine Personnel Regulations or, if the ship is not Canadian, equivalent certificates;
  2. (b) has regularly completed, within the preceding 60 months, voyages in the Authority’s region or the coastal trade;
  3. (c) in the case of a waiver for the totality of Area 2, has completed, within the preceding 60 months, 10 return voyages, of which one is within the preceding 24 months, in the waters between Cape Mudge and Pine Island;
  4. (d) in the case of a waiver for Area 2 excluding the portion of the waters between Cape Mudge and Pine Island, has completed, within the preceding 60 months, 10 return voyages within Area 2, of which one is within the preceding 24 months;
  5. (e) in the case of a waiver for Area 3, 4 or 5, has completed, within the preceding 60 months, 10 return voyages in the Area for which the waiver is being sought, of which one is within the preceding 24 months; and
  6. (f) during a voyage set out in paragraph (c), (d) or (e), acted as a person
    • (i) in charge of the deck watch,
    • (ii) under the supervision of a licensed pilot, or
    • (iii) under the supervision of a person in charge of the deck watch who has previously completed 10 return voyages in the Area for which the waiver is being sought.

(5) Compulsory pilotage may be waived in respect of a ship referred to in subsection (4) that is carrying dangerous goods and travelling in the Second Narrows Traffic Control Zone if every person in charge of the deck watch has, as of the day on which the application is made, completed six return voyages through that Zone, at least one of which was completed within the preceding 24 months, of which the Pacific Pilotage Authority was given prior notice,

  1. (a) with a licensed pilot; or
  2. (b) with a person in charge of the deck watch who has previously completed six return voyages, of which that Authority was given prior notice, through that Zone with a licensed pilot.

(6) If a ship is part of an arrangement of ships then the combined gross tonnage of all the ships in the arrangement of ships is taken into consideration in determining whether the ship qualifies for a waiver of compulsory pilotage under subsection (3) or (4).

(7) For greater certainty, the Pacific Pilotage Authority may not waive compulsory pilotage in respect of any period before the embarkation or after the disembarkation of the persons who meet the conditions set out in subsections (3) to (5), as the case may be.

(8) Despite subsections (3) to (5), a ship is subject to compulsory pilotage if there is a risk to navigational safety because of

  1. (a) ship safety orders resulting from an environmental risk;
  2. (b) exceptional circumstances on board the ship; or
  3. (c) extreme conditions related to weather, tides or currents or freshet conditions.

(9) An application for a waiver of compulsory pilotage other than an application made under a circumstance described in subsection (1) or (2) shall be made in writing.

(10) At the request of the Pacific Pilotage Authority, the persons in charge of the deck watch referred to in subsections (1) and (3) to (5) shall produce evidence that the conditions set out in this section continue to be met.

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