Pilotage licences

A pilot has a right to pilot in such fairways for which he or she has received a right to serve as pilot licence granted by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

Pilot’s licence requires:

• a valid Master's Certificate
• a valid medical certificate of seafarers entitling them to deck service
• certificate of completion of the student period of the pilotage company's education system
• certificate of a completed pilotage examination
• good oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish and satisfactory oral skills in another language
• at least an average level of English proficiency.

A pilot’s licence is issued for a maximum of five years at a time.

The application must be accompanied by:

• a copy of completion of the student period of the pilotage company's education system
• a copy of a completed pilotage examination
• a copy of a certificate of completion of the continuous maintenance of competence of the pilotage company's education system
• a copy of a medical certificate of seafarers
• a copy of a Master's Certificate if it is foreign.

Luotsin lupakirjaan vaaditaan

• voimassa oleva merikapteeninkirja
• voimassa oleva laivaväen lääkärintodistus, joka oikeuttaa toimimaan kansipalveluksessa
• todistus suoritetusta luotsausyhtiön koulutusjärjestelmän oppilasjaksosta
• todistus suoritetusta luotsaustutkinnosta
• suomen tai ruotsin kielen hyvä suullinen ja kirjallinen taito sekä toisen kielen tyydyttävä suullinen taito
• vähintään keskitasoinen englannin kielen taito.

Luotsin lupakirja myönnetään enintään viideksi vuodeksi kerrallaan.

Hakemukseen tulee liittää

• kopio suoritetusta luotsausyhtiön koulutusjärjestelmän oppilasjaksosta
• kopio suoritetusta luotsaustutkinnosta
• kopio luotsausyhtiön koulutusjärjestelmän mukaisesti suoritetusta jatkuvasta osaamisen ylläpitämisestä
• kopio laivaväen lääkärintodistuksesta
• kopio pätevyyskirjasta, jos se on ulkomaalainen.

A pilot has a right to pilot in such fairways for which he or she has received a right to serve as pilot licence granted by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

Pilot’s licence requires:

• a valid Master's Certificate
• a valid medical certificate of seafarers entitling them to deck service
• certificate of completion of the student period of the pilotage company's education system
• certificate of a completed pilotage examination
• good oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish and satisfactory oral skills in another language
• at least an average level of English proficiency.

A pilot’s licence is issued for a maximum of five years at a time.

The application must be accompanied by:

• a copy of completion of the student period of the pilotage company's education system
• a copy of a completed pilotage examination
• a copy of a certificate of completion of the continuous maintenance of competence of the pilotage company's education system
• a copy of a medical certificate of seafarers
• a copy of a Master's Certificate if it is foreign.

Pilotage examinations or PECs may be received by a person specifically trained for the task approved by Traficom.

Being accepted as a pilotage and PEC examiner requires:

• at least five years of experience as a pilot or operating with a PEC licence
• a valid pilot’s licence or PEC licence
• two training voyages which are completed with two examiners, as well as examiners’ recommendations
• certificates of a completed pilotage examination approved by Traficom, or a certificate of a theory test, trainer education, communication education and simulator education for a PEC examiner
• completing Traficom’s familiarisation discussion
• good oral and written skills in Finnish or Swedish and satisfactory oral skills in another language, and
• at least an average level of English proficiency.

Examiner’s licence may be granted to apply to those fairways and vessels for which the applicant has the experience necessary for the task. Applicant has the necessary experience, if they have:

• a valid pilot’s licence for the fairway on the application
• a valid PEC licence for the fairway and vessel on the application
• completed a PEC familiarisation voyage, fairway knowledge test and a simulator test meant for an examiner in the applied fairway, or
• a practical pilotage test on the vessel in question or a familiarisation voyage meant for an examiner with another examiner.

A pilotage or PEC examiner licence is valid for five years.

Fairway-specific exemption means that the person is granted an exemption from compulsory pilotage on a specific vessel and in a specific fairway. The fairways for which a PEC fairway exemption can be applied for are listed in Section 7 of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency's fairway regulation. You can access the regulation here.

A fairway-specific exemption requires

• a valid deck officer’s certificate which entitles you to steer the vessel being applied for
• a valid medical certificate of seafarers entitling them to deck service
• completing a familiarisation voyage
• adequate experience in navigating and steering in the fairway in question
• completing a PEC examination, and
• sufficient proficiency of English and necessary skills in Finnish and Swedish.

Adequate experience in navigating and steering a vessel is:

• at least 6 months of seagoing service on that vessel’s steering duties and at least 10 back-and-forth voyages
• at least 30 months of seagoing service as a Master of a vessel that is at least 50 meters long and at least 10 back-and-forth voyages
• at least 15 back-and-forth voyages on the vessel’s steering duties.

The back-and-forth voyages must be carried out on the fairway applied for on board a vessel under compulsory pilotage or exempted from the compulsory pilotage.

You can view the stages and order of completion of the PEC examination here.

Fairway exemption exempting from compulsory pilotage is valid for five years.

The application must be accompanied by:

• a copy of the completed familiarisation voyage
• a copy of the completed PEC examination
• a copy of possible fairway navigation in ice conditions
• a copy of a Master's Certificate if it is foreign
• a copy of any simulation training to replace the required voyages
• a copy of a medical certificate of seafarers.

A regional exemption can be marked on a PEC licence. The regional exemption applies to all VTS fairways in the VTS area that is the subject of the application.

A regional exemption requires:

• a valid deck officer’s certificate which entitles you to steer the vessel mentioned in the application
• a valid medical certificate of seafarers entitling them to deck service
• a successfully completed PEC examination theory test
• a completed PEC familiarisation voyage from at least one of the appropriate VTS fairways in the area and a familiarisation discussion on all the VTS fairways in the area
• a completed PEC examination practical pilotage test from one of the area's fairways, a ship simulator test from the area's VTS fairways, and a fairway knowledge test from all of the VTS fairways in the area applied for
• extensive experience in steering vessels under compulsory pilotage or exempt from it in the VTS area covered by the application
• English, Finnish and Swedish skills that enable the necessary prerequisites for communication to ensure safe navigation.

Extensive experience includes at least 6 months of seagoing service in the steering duties of a vessel to be marked on the PEC licence. When applying for the first regional exemption for a vessel with a maximum length of more than 120 metres or a maximum width of more than 20 metres, it is required that at least half of the experience has been acquired on a larger vessel.

A regional exemption is valid for five years.

The application must be accompanied by:

• a copy of a completed familiarisation voyage and familiarisation discussion
• a copy of the completed PEC examination
• a copy of a medical certificate of seafarers
• a copy of a Master's Certificate if it is foreign
• a copy of possible fairway navigation in ice conditions
• a copy of any simulation training to replace the required voyages.

A fairway-specific and area-specific exemption can be added to a valid PEC licence.

Adding a fairway-specific exemption to a valid PEC licence requires

• a certificate of a PEC familiarisation voyage
• certificate of adequate experience in navigating and steering vessels in the fairway on the application
• a certificate of a completed PEC examination
• completing a PEC fairway knowledge examination, and
• completing the practical section of PEC examination .

Adding an area-specific exemption to a valid PEC licence requires

• a completed PEC familiarisation voyage from at least one of the appropriate VTS fairways in the area and a familiarisation discussion on all the VTS fairways in the area
• extensive experience in steering vessels under compulsory pilotage or exempt from it in the VTS area covered by the application, and
• a completed PEC examination practical pilotage test from one of the area's fairways, a ship simulator test from the area's VTS fairways, and a fairway knowledge test from all of the VTS fairways in the area applied for

Extensive experience includes at least 6 months of seagoing service in the steering duties of a vessel to be marked on the PEC licence. When applying for the first regional exemption for a vessel with a maximum length of more than 120 metres or a maximum width of more than 20 metres, it is required that at least half of the experience has been acquired on a larger vessel.

A new vessel can be added to a valid PEC licence. The prerequisite is that the applicant has completed the practical pilotage test as part of the PEC examination for one fairway marked on the PEC licence. Additionally, the applicant must prepare an updated pilotage plan where the attributes of the vessel to be added are observed. The plan shall be made for all fairways marked on the licence for which exemption the vessel is added to.

If a vessel with a maximum length of more than 120 metres or a maximum width of more than 20 metres is added to the regional exemption, extensive experience is required. Extensive experience means experience in steering vessels under compulsory pilotage or exempt from it in the fairways of the VTS area covered by the application and at least 6 months of seagoing service in the steering duties of the vessel to be marked on the licence.

If a new vessel has a different safety management system than a vessel already marked on the licence, the addition of a new vessel to a PEC licence also requires that the licence holder has at least two separate voyages in the fairways marked on the licence and 20 days of seagoing service on the vessel using that safety management system.

The PEC licence is granted as either restricted or unrestricted based on whether the applicant has experience in navigating a vessel in Finnish fairways in ice conditions. Restricted PEC licence does not exempt from compulsory pilotage in fairways where an assistance restriction of I C or higher is in effect.

An unrestricted PEC licence requires:

• completing a PEC familiarisation voyage in such a Finnish fairway where an assistance restriction I C is enforced.
• steering a vessel in ice conditions as a part of the practical section of the PEC examination.

Additionally, the applicant must make a free-form report on his or her previous experience in navigating in ice conditions. The free-form report can be, for example, a description of working history as a part of navigation personnel of a vessel that has operated in ice conditions, or other such reliable report. If there is no previous experience in ice conditions or it cannot be reported reliably, the applicant must complete at least three PEC familiarisation voyages so that at least assistance restriction I C is enforced in the fairway.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency may on application or on its own initiative grant vessels or vessel masters exceptions from compulsory pilotage, if vessel safety and the environment is not compromised and compliance with the provisions governing the obligation would be manifestly pointless or unreasonably burdensome.

More specifically, the situations in which exceptions may be granted are laid down in section 7 of the Pilotage Act. The exception can only be granted for six months at a time, excluding the following exceptions:

• operations securing transport and transport services referred to in Article 5 of the Island Development Act (494/1981),
• for operation in a designated and restricted area in domestic trading area I and II; or
• for a vessel with the main task of operating in maritime education use according to the Act on Vocational Education and Training (531/2017) or Universities of Applied Sciences Act (932/2014).

The aforementioned three exceptions may be granted for an indefinite period.

When applying for an exemption from compulsory pilotage, please provide at least the following information at the time of application:

• the details of those vessels the application is about
• the competence and experience of the vessel’s masters from corresponding tasks
• the geographic area the application is about
• the time of the exception.

The application is sent to kirjaamo(at)traficom.fi.

Please note that the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency must consult the pilotage company, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, the VTS service provider and any other relevant authorities and stakeholders before making a decision.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency may set requirements for pilotage competence regarding the exception to-be granted in accordance with Chapter 7 of the Pilotage Act.

How do I renew a valid pilotage exemption certificate?

The pilotage exemption certificate may be renewed by the procedures for the renewal of the fairway exemption marked on the PEC licence as provided for in Section 49 of the Pilotage Act. In this case, the pilotage exemption certificate in accordance with the old and repealed Pilotage Act will be converted into a corresponding fairway exemption for the PEC licence.

How do I start the PEC examination?

The PEC examination begins with a theory test based on the materials listed in the PEC regulation. The link to theory test and further details on the other stages of the examination are given above in the section PEC examination stages and order of completion.

What is the difference between restricted and unrestricted PEC licence?

Restricted and unrestricted PEC licences are connected to whether the applicant has experience in navigating a vessel in Finnish fairways in ice conditions. Restricted PEC licence does not exempt from compulsory pilotage in fairways where an assistance restriction of I C or higher is in effect. However, unrestricted licence is valid in fairways where an assistance restriction I C or higher is in effect. Obtaining an unrestricted licence requires certain performances, which are described in more detail above in the Restricted or Unrestricted PEC Licence.

How is a new vessel added to a valid PEC licence?

A new vessel may be added to a valid PEC licence if the applicant has completed an examination voyage as part of the practical part of the PEC qualification on one of the fairways marked on the PEC licence. Additionally, the applicant must prepare an updated pilotage plan where the attributes of the vessel to be added are observed. The plan shall be made for all fairways marked on the licence for which exemption the vessel is added to. The size and safety system of the vessel may affect the qualifications; additional qualifications are laid down in Section 48 of the Pilotage Act.