OAR 856-015-0025: Apprentice Selection & Training Program - Columbia & Willamette River Pilotage Ground

(1) Application for a Certificate as a Pilot Apprentice for the Columbia and Willamette River pilotage ground shall be made on a form provided by the Board. (2) The Board of Maritime Pilots shall certify from among the eligible applicants the best qualified individual or individuals for apprenticeship. Selection shall be in accordance with selection criteria procedures, based upon numerical ranking, promulgated by the Board of Maritime Pilots. (3) No more than one apprentice shall be in the apprenticeship program at a time. The Board may accept a new apprentice into training at intervals of three years or longer depending on need as determined by the Board. In determining need, the Board will consult with the training organization for the Columbia & Willamette River pilotage ground about current or projected workload, current number of trainees, diversity of current and projected trainees, and other factors deemed relevant to fostering the diversity of licensees. (4) Minimum qualifications for certification as a Pilot Apprentice for the Columbia & Willamette River pilotage ground are the following: (a) Academic: Completion of a four-year course of study and receipt of a degree from an accredited maritime academy. (b) Previous Maritime Experience: A minimum of two years of actual experience as an officer in charge of a navigation watch while holding one or more of the following licenses endorsed for service as: (A) Master, or Chief Mate, or Second Mate of Ocean or Near-Coastal Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage; (B) Master of Great Lakes or Inland Vessels of Unlimited Tonnage; or (C) Master of Vessels of Less than 1600 GRT. (5) Points: (a) Oral Examination: Every applicant meeting the minimum qualifications shall be examined by the Board of Maritime Pilots, but in every case at least one pilot from the Board-licensed training organization for the Columbia & Willamette River pilotage ground shall be included as an examiner. Each person examined shall be assigned from 0 to 95 points based upon objective scoring guidelines published by the Board of Maritime Pilots. (b) Federal First Class Pilot License: Every applicant holding a federal First Class Pilot License for any U.S. pilotage ground shall be assigned 5 points. (6) The apprentice candidate with the highest point total shall be awarded a Certificate of Apprenticeship by the Board and enter the apprentice training program. Said Certificate shall terminate upon satisfactory completion of the apprentice training program or upon the termination of the apprentice for cause or resignation. No person shall represent himself or herself as an apprentice unless he or she has been awarded the Board's Certificate of Apprenticeship. No state-licensed pilot shall be required to train any uncertified person. Any uncertified person posing as an apprentice aboard any vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the Board shall be considered in violation of ORS 776.405. (7) Training and qualification of pilot apprentices are subject to the following provisions: (a) The term of apprenticeship for every apprentice shall be a minimum of three years. (b) The apprentice training and qualification program shall include the satisfactory completion of an Apprentice Training Course approved by the Board. The apprentice training and qualification program shall consist of both the approved Apprentice Training Course and the term of apprentice training. (c) Satisfactory completion of the Apprentice Training Course, as approved by the Board, requires that the apprentice must have satisfactorily completed the following training activities: (A) 500 vessel movements between Astoria and Portland or Vancouver under the supervision of state licensed pilots; and (B) 500 vessel movements under the supervision of state licensed pilots between any two points on the pilotage grounds selected by the Training Course Monitor based upon an evaluation of the apprentice’s skills and training needs. Assignments under this subsection may include, but are not necessarily limited to, transits between Astoria and Portland or Vancouver. (C) Up to 30 days of industry-related training as directed by the Training Course Monitor, with assignment chosen based upon the Training Course Monitor's evaluation of the apprentice's skills and training needs. Assignment under this subsection may include, but need not be limited to, shipboard training, electronic navigation training, vessel simulator training, manned model training, attendance at meetings with maritime related government agencies or exposure to maritime related administrative activities. Each day of training assigned under this subsection shall be substituted for a vessel movement otherwise required under subsection (B) above. (d) In order to satisfactorily complete this training course, every apprentice must ride on every route, day and night, ebb and flood tides, and on every size category of vessel calling at the port. The curriculum of the approved course requires that apprentices learn to direct the movement of vessels, apply the proper rules of the nautical road and other maritime procedures, and interface and coordinate with other affected vessels and facilities. Every apprentice must ride at least once with a majority of pilots holding an unlimited state license for the Columbia & Willamette River pilotage ground. (e) During each vessel movement to which the apprentice is assigned, the apprentice shall accompany the licensed pilot assigned to the vessel. The licensed pilot serves as the instructor and evaluator and interacts with the apprentice in observational and mastery learning process. The licensed pilot is obligated to interact with the apprentice to a degree sufficient to teach skills and impart information and to assess the apprentice's skill and knowledge during periods of "hands on" piloting by the apprentice under supervision by the pilot. (f) At the end of every year of the apprenticeship, every apprentice must present recommendations from the Training Course Monitor and from five (5) unlimited state-licensed pilots who participated in training and evaluation, certifying that the apprentice has demonstrated satisfactory progress in pilotage ground knowledge, bridge communication skills and shiphandling of ocean-going ships on the pilotage ground to become a competent pilot trainee at the conclusion of the apprenticeship. Failure by an apprentice to present the required annual recommendations may result in termination of their apprenticeship by the Board. Failure by an apprentice to present the required annual recommendations on more than one occasion shall result in termination of the apprenticeship. (g) The discovery that any apprentice fails to satisfy the physical requirements for federal licensure shall result in termination of their apprenticeship by the Board. (h) Upon satisfactory completion of the approved Apprentice Training Course, the apprentice will be awarded a Certificate of Completion by the designated Training Course Monitor. (8) Addition to List of Candidates: Apprentices meeting all three criteria shall begin training for the Class C license upon the next opening of the position in the training organization's pilot training program. Apprentices shall be added to the Board's list of trainee candidates at the top position when all of the following are met: (a) Award of a Certificate of Completion by the designated Training Course Monitor; (b) Federal First Class licensure for the grounds from Astoria to Portland and Vancouver; and (c) Passage of the Navigation Simulation examination for the grounds. (9) Nothing shall prohibit the Board of Maritime Pilots from periodically reviewing the progress of any apprentice undergoing training and reviewing the progress reports on every apprentice that have been prepared by the pilots. (10) If no person has successfully completed the Apprenticeship Training Course at the time a need for a pilot trainee arises, then the Board shall appoint a person who meets the requirements of OAR 856-015-0005, and who has been selected by the Board from qualified applicants pursuant to OAR 856-015-0023 . (11) Consistent with OAR 856-015-0001(4), nothing in these rules makes an Apprentice an employee of the training organization or of the State of Oregon.