Houston Pilots

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The Houston Pilots comprise 81 pilots, including two deputy pilots that are still in training. In selecting candidates to become deputy pilots, the Houston Pilots accept only experienced working mariners that have already been qualified and licensed by the Federal Government as First Class Pilots for Galveston Bar and the Houston Ship Channel and then trains them for three years before recommending them to the Pilot commissioners and the Governor for a full commission. The Houston Ship Channel is known as the most difficult pilotage in the world because of the very long and very narrow channel and the heavy load of traffic that it carries. The Houston Pilots, from the beginning, now, and in the future are totally committed to the safety on the Houston Ship Channel and service to the shipping industry. The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 6,600 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and sixth largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange.