A San Francisco bay bar pilot boards a ship.
A California lawmaker’s bill to increase the pay of pilots who navigate massive cargo ships through San Francisco Bay’s intricate shipping channels drew attention Tuesday to the handsome incomes earned by these little-known mariners.
A state Senate committee heard debate about a proposal sponsored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, to raise the rates of San Francisco Bay’s bar pilots, who take home about $400,000 each annually.
Pilots dispute that the rate increase will yield the jump in income predicted by shippers and say their costs have risen by millions of dollars since their last raise in 2006, especially the cost of fuel for the boats that take them to and from ships.