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San Francisco Bar Pilots in front of their new pilot vessel, Golden Gate.

The San Francisco Bar Pilots on Thursday formally celebrated the arrival and deployment of their recently delivered Camarc 22 pilot vessel Golden Gate. Built by Snow & Company, Seattle, the Golden Gate replaces a vessel of the same name which was at the end of its lifespan. It is a state-of-the-art pilot vessel that advances the organization’s sustainability goals and whose funding was made possible through last year’s California Assembly Bill 2056 legislation authored by Assemblyman Timothy Grayson (D-Concord).

“Our vessels are a critical piece of the organization, moving the Bar Pilots through the San Francisco Bay and beyond to keep California’s economy going,” said Captain John Carlier, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots. “The new Golden Gate’s cutting-edge engine and technology will allow us to transfer to and from ships safely and efficiently with added maneuverability and speed, meaning safer trips and faster service for the ships calling into the pilotage ground.”

The Bar Pilots play a critical role in the Bay Area economy and support more than $117 billion in economic activity throughout the region. The recent pandemic accentuated outdated funding processes, and one of the major tenets of AB 2056 was a revision of the pilot boat surcharge. The new surcharge increases flexibility and the time horizon over which pilot vessel construction is funded – a win for both the Bar Pilots and the rate payers. These updates are critical in providing the Bar Pilots with the ability to respond to an accelerated fleet replacement schedule brought about by the new California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission regulation.

“The pandemic and related supply chain issues over the last few years shined a light on the necessity to address outdated funding mechanisms and ensure that the Bar Pilots continue their essential work to push the local, regional, and state economy forward, while also reducing our carbon footprint,” said Capt. Anne McIntyre, business director of the San Francisco Bar Pilots. “We are grateful to the many partners who were instrumental in the process of bringing the new pilot vessel Golden Gate to reality.”

The San Francisco Bar Pilots were joined in their effort to proactively address pilot vessel construction funding mechanisms by the Pacific Maritime Shipping Association, Cruise Lines International Association, and Western States Petroleum Association. Through this partnership, the coalition was able to guarantee funding was available for this critical piece of the Bar Pilots daily objective: navigating ships safely in and out of the San Francisco Bay and beyond while protecting 1,000 miles of shoreline.

“The delivery of the new pilot vessel Golden Gate is an embodiment of the dedication of the maritime industry to reducing emissions at our seaports and our commitment to make new investments to support the future of California’s waterfront,” said Mike Jacob, vice president and general counsel of the Pacific Maritime Shipping Association, representing ocean carriers and ocean-going vessels calling on ports in the San Francisco Bay. “The modernized and upgraded Golden Gate will not only provide pilotage service to the vessels calling on ports, but it will meet and exceed California’s strict new emissions standards for harbor craft, which are some of the strictest in the world. This new vessel delivery was made possible by the San Francisco Bar Pilots and their vessel customers working together and going hand-in-hand together to Sacramento to get the approval of the State Legislature and Governor Newsom for the financing structure necessary to commission this vessel, and improving our environment and our local economy in the process.”

During the celebration, Assemblyman Timothy Grayson presented Capt. Anne McIntyre, business director of the San Francisco Bar Pilots, with a California Assembly Members’ Resolution recognizing her lifetime achievement award from California State University Maritime Academy

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Two planes were forced to abort landings at San Francisco International Airpot last week after pilots spotted a Southwest Airlines jet taxiing across runways they had been cleared to land on.

The Federal Aviation Administration says that the Southwest plane cleared the runways while the other planes passed overhead and that a decision to abort the landings was “precautionary.”

An air traffic controller at the airport told the Southwest pilots they should not have been on the runways during the 19 May incident, according to The Associated Press.

Officials say that an inbound United Airlines plane was as low as a few hundred feet over San Francisco Bay before its pilots saw the Southwest jet on the same runway.

A short time later, pilots of an inbound Alaska Airlines plane saw the same Southwest jet crossing a second, parallel runway, and the pilots aborted their landing as well.

Both planes circled and landed safely at the waterfront airport, which is the second busiest in California after LAX in Los Angeles.

An air traffic controller told the crew of the Southwest jet, “You shouldn’t be on the runway,” according to a recording of the incident on LiveATC.com.

And when one of the pilots tried to explain why they were there, the controller quickly cut them off, saying, “I don’t need an argument.”

“The FAA looked into the events and determined the appropriate steps were taken to ensure safe operations,” the agency said in a statement.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it has not opened an investigation into the incident.

The FAA says that there has not been a fatal crash involving a US airline since 2009.

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By Itay Hod

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Capt. Zach Kellerman makes what might be the world’s most dangerous commute every day.

To get to work, he must jump from a swaying boat onto a rope ladder dangling from the side of a massive 15-story ship as waves crash beneath him.

“In really inclement weather, this is a very dangerous place,” Kellerman said.

He is part of a small but fierce force called the San Francisco Bar Pilots, a group of master seafarers who have boarded some of the world’s largest cargo ships and piloted them in and out of San Francisco Bay for two centuries.

They are called bar pilots due to their ability to navigate shallow channels with sand bars on either side.

“We’re sort of the first line of defense for the bay,” he said.

Both state and federal law require a local pilot to relieve the ship’s captain to navigate the San Francisco Bay, not only to protect the cargo but the bay itself.

“When we started in 1850 during the gold rush, we were tasked with protecting ships from the environment. Now we protect the environment from the ships,” he said.

At Pier 9 in San Francisco, Kellerman boards a small boat that will take him to the Port of Oakland. There he will board a state-of-the-art cargo ship called the George III bound for Hawaii and pilot it into the open sea.

One of its biggest challenges is a narrow canal that the ship has to navigate through on its way out of port.

“It’s only 50 feet deep, so we have limited space on each side, including under us,” he said.

If he’s worried at all, it doesn’t show. After all, that’s what he’s trained for.

Becoming a bar pilot is not that easy. Applicants must complete a four-year maritime academy and must have 15 years of experience as a seagoing vessel or tugboat captain before even applying. There is also a written exam, a simulator exam and an interview. Anyone who passes all the exams must then complete another 18-month to three-year training course.

The group’s chief executive, Captain Anne McIntyre, said the San Francisco Bar Pilots are the “human link in the supply chain” and responsible for nearly all containerized cargo shipped through Northern California.

They went largely unnoticed until the pandemic, when supply chain disruptions led to an epic backlog of ships around the bay. It was the bar pilots who got it going again.

“It wasn’t until the supply chain was disrupted that people realized how important we are to the economy,” McIntyre said.

As Kellerman pulls up next to the ship, we receive one final instruction: “No swimming.”

It’s a steep climb – no safety net or harnesses. Luckily it’s a beautiful day. But this is the Bay Area, where conditions are rapidly deteriorating (more on that later).

Once on board, you get a glimpse of just how huge the ship actually is. It’s the size of 2.5 football fields and carries between $150 million and $300 million worth of goods to Hawaii.

Ed Washburn — senior vice president of fleet operations at Pasha, the company that owns the ship — leads CBS San Francisco to the beating heart of this ship, a huge clean-energy engine with about 200 times the horsepower of the average car.

“The ship was built specifically for the Hawaiian trade,” Washburn said. “They need their goods immediately and if we’re late, their stores will be empty.”

So Kellerman doesn’t waste any time. With the help of two tugs, he slowly pulls the 45,000-ton ship from its place in the canal.

Its biggest concern, along with cross currents, boat traffic, and sandbars on the ocean floor, is the formation of a dense blanket of fog on the horizon that San Francisco is famous for.

“We’ll probably be completely enveloped,” Kellerman said while looking through his binoculars.

Within a few minutes the fog moves in. When looking ahead it is impossible to see beyond the bow.

For the next 20 minutes, Kellerman flies blind, using radar, GPS and instinct to navigate the steel giant through one of the most dangerous parts of the bay.

After 11 long miles of near zero visibility, the ship safely left the bay. But the bar pilot is not out of the woods yet.

Kellerman hands control of the ship back to its rightful captain before rushing back to his pilot boat, which awaits below. But this time he’s out at sea and the rickety ladder is his only way down.

“There’s no protection out there behind the Golden Gate Bridge,” he said. “It’s really scary out here.”

As he dangles from the side of the ship, the pilot boat is brought into place so he can jump up. The surf is so rough that the waves smack the boat. As Kellerman begins his descent, he knows there’s little room for error. One wrong step here could be disastrous.

Fortunately, the transfer to the pilot boat runs smoothly for him and for us. At the end of a long day, Kellerman returns to the pier after completing another shift.

“I come home feeling accomplished and having a little adventure along the way,” he said.

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ON COLLEGE HOOPS / VON PAUL DANZER / PORTLAND TRIBUNE / UP Hoopsters gain self-confidence and achieve two close victories

Terry Porter knew there would be many educational moments this basketball season for his Portland Pilots squad, which includes four freshmen and six freshman players.

Last week the pilots experienced the best way to learn: lessons in winning.

Portland (10-15, 4-8 West Coast Conference) prevailed in extra time against Pepperdine in extra time and Loyola Marymount in two late free throws. Sure, the victories went to the only teams among the pilots in the WCC rating. But such tense victories can leave a lasting impression.

“At the beginning of the year we had sales from our young people in late game situations that we didn’t do well. And we learned from that,” said Terry Porter after Saturday’s 68:66 win against LMU. “We did a much better job in all of these games by running the track at both ends of the floor.”

Examples of the growth in this profit have been the game-winning game. The newcomer Marcus Shaver Jr. was able to drive to the basket, pull a foul and knock down two free throws with 2.3 seconds on the clock. In Thursday’s win against Pepperdine, Shaver scored seven out of 14 points in extra time in Portland.

The razor and colleague JoJo Walker also took turns keeping LMU’s top scorer, James Batemon, six points below his season average.

Freshman striker Tahirou Diabate hit a game high of 19 against Pepperdine and scored a blocked key shot late in both games – a kind of momentum shifting game that Diabate has consistently started.

The Mali-born 6-9 Diabate who appeared as a high school player in Japan has started the last 10 games. It was included on the grid at the start of the conference schedule to provide rim protection and rebound.

“He stuck to his work and learned and was very receptive to what everyone had to say to him. He is an example of our growth as a team,” said senior wing D’Marques Tyson. “At the beginning of the season he would have been worried about where he should be and not worried about protecting the rim. He recognizes that now and takes on his role and is a solid rim protector.”

For his part, Tyson has taken on a role as the bench’s goalscorer. In Saturday’s game against LMU, he made 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored 22 points.

Terry Porter calls Tyson the pilot version of Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson, who set Porter’s Trail Blazer on fire in the 1990 NBA Finals.

The two narrow victories are an emotional upswing for a pilots team that doubled their overall WCC victory last season, 4-8 in the conference.

“We started to play more as a team. That’s how we achieved these two wins,” said Redshirt student Franklin Porter, who scored 12 points in both wins last week, including eight of the last 16 minutes against LMU. “It only builds trust for the whole team. If we go down this route, we have a schedule that we think is more favorable and we’re just trying to get a higher starting value for the conference tournament.”

The pilots who visit Damon Stoudamire’s Pacific Tigers on Thursday in San Francisco and on Saturday and then play three of their last four at home have a lot to learn.

“Our boys are growing. We are making progress,” said Terry Porter. “We still have a long way to go to find the right path. But it’s great to have momentum, great to get these guys involved in what we’re trying to do.”

‘Boo Boo’ boom

Portland wasn’t the only one getting great pieces from newbies on Saturday. Portland State’s Holland “Boo Boo” Woods led the Vikings to a much-needed win over Eastern Washington at Lewis & Clark.

Woods hit all 10 of his shots from the ground (a program record for most field goals without a miss) en route to 29 points. The point guard also had nine assists and no turnovers as the power supply ended up with 22 assists and six turnovers to stop a three-game skid.

Portland State manager Barret Peery describes Woods, who finished second in the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year last season, as wise beyond his years.

“He’s been great all year round with his ability to handle the ball for us for longer minutes,” said Peery. “When he shoots the ball like that, he’s really hard to protect because he can make you come and go.”

The month of January was full of comings and goings for the Vikings, who were understaffed for most of the month due to illness, injury and suspension. Top scorer Deontae North has missed three games and was suspended indefinitely earlier this week.

Woods and Bryce Canda are the only Vikings to have started all 10 Big Sky games, and Peery used five different starting fives in those 10 games.

By comparison, the Idaho team that hit the PSU a week ago have been using the same five starters all season, according to Peery.

“January was a turbulent, crazy month. We’re just hoping for a nice, smooth February and trying to keep things as normal as possible,” said Peery.

Senior striker Brandon Hollins returned to the starting line-up last weekend after suffering from pneumonia for a few weeks.

Hollins leads the conference in Field Goal Percentage (.588).

“He was a tremendous energetic guy to us,” said Peery. “He’s a rebounder, a defender and can hit the ball on the edge.”

Having too few players means adjusting the pressure on the field and the steady pace that Peery introduced this season. Despite some gunfights in the conference, the Vikings finished fourth in the nation that week (88.3 points per game).

The Vikings face a challenging week of games in the Montana schools.

The first is a Thursday visit to the Grizzlies, who are 11-0 in the conference game. Montana’s closest Big Sky game was a 92-89 win over PSU on January 13 in a highly competitive game at Lewis & Clark.

On Saturday afternoon, the Vikings will be shooting for a second win against Montana State, which starts the week half a game before the power supply in the conference standings.

• Jefferson High Grade Victor Sanders had 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds in Idaho’s 97-88 win over PSU last week. It was the last game in Portland for Sanders, who finished second in his career in Idaho. … Columbia Christian The senior Arkadiy Mkrtychyan, also senior, had 11 points and seven rebounds for Idaho.

Knighthood

The Warner Pacific men’s basketball team was named Team of the Week for the Cascade Collegiate Conference after winning last weekend against Northwest Christian and Corban.

The Knights, who have won five of their last six and ranked 15th in the latest NAIA Division II coaching poll, start an important weekend with second place in the CCC 12-4 against Eastern Oregon. The climbers visit Warner Pacific’s CC Perry Gym on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday visit to the first place College of Idaho (15-1 and # 7 nationally).

Coach Jared Valentine points out that better defense is the key to the Knights’ recent success – and that “D” will be key to avenging losses to EOU and C of I.

“I’m starting to be a little pleased with our defense work,” says Valentine. “I don’t know we fully understood the defensive execution in the first half of the conference.”

One thing the knights know is rebounding. Senior De’Jon Bowman, a 6-6 year old from Las Vegas, won a school record of 24 boards (and scored 21 points) when he won at Northwest Christian. It averages 9.7 rebounds.

After this week, WPC will end the regular season with street games against Northwest and Evergreen State.

Second place is important as it provides the opportunity to play at home in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the conference tournament.

Valentine expects the CCC to include four teams in the national tournament. A second place would mean a higher rank and better seed for this competition.

In the neighborhood

• After disappointing losses in Idaho and east Washington, Portland State women return to Lewis & Clark to entertain Montana at 7pm on Thursday and Montana State at 1pm on Saturday. A season high of 31 sales condemned the Vikings in their seven-point loss in east Washington. With 5-5 (11-10 in total) the power supply is in eighth place in the Big Sky.

• The Portland Pilots women (5-18, 1-11 WCC) will be in San Francisco on Thursday at 7:00 pm and Pacific on Saturday at 2:00 pm.

• With four games remaining, the Lewis & Clark women are fourth of four playoff spots in the Northwest Conference. The Pioneers (11-10 total) are 6-6 in the conference and one game in front of Puget Sound and Linfield. You will host Pacific Lutheran on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and visit Linfield on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The last two regular season games will be played at George Fox and the following weekend against Puget Sound.

• The men’s Concordia basketball team is still shooting its first victory at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, hosting Saint Martin’s on Thursday at 7:30 pm and Seattle Pacific on Saturday at 7:30 pm. Of the Cavaliers’ 14 GNAC losses, six are by five points or less (and two of the last three are by one point).

• The Concordia women (6-8 GNAC) host the Alaska Schools Thursday and Saturday at 5:15 pm.

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