A pilot is a guide who helps ships to navigate along the coast. This book is a logbook that belonged to the coastal pilot Christian Aspelund (1881–1966), who started working as a pilot in 1906. From cover to cover, it is crammed full of notes from his piloting assignments. The modern pilot service in Norway now carries out about 40,000 assignments per year, many of them in the Oslofjord.
A pilot’s notes
Notes like these are incomprehensible to most people, but not to fellow pilots. They describe the route the pilot chose. By following Aspelund’s notes, another pilot can recreate his route along the coast.
Requirement for a pilot
There is a general requirement in Norwegian coastal waters that any vessel exceeding 70 m, any passenger vessel over 50 m and any vessel carrying hazardous or polluting cargo engage a pilot.
Knowing the waters
Why do ships still need a pilot today, when they have access to increasingly advanced digital instrumentation? Basically, even advanced technology cannot replace an experienced pilot’s eyes and knowledge. According to the Norwegian Coastal Administration, “the pilot service is the simplest and probably the best preventive safety measure to avoid accidents at sea”.
Chosen by Cathrine, museum conservator (55)