09 June 2021

Piloting for 301 years

 June 8th - Tranøy - Lødingen

Sailed from the old pilot station in Ofoten and crossed the inner part of Vestfjorden to the "new" pilot station at Lødingen. The former Costal Administrations supplytanker and now museum ship MS Gamle Oksøy was there as the centre point of the celebration of the  the public pilot service 300 year anniversary (that had to be postponed one year due to Covid). 


The public pilot service was established by royal decree from king Fredrik IV (of Denmark-Norway). 

Piloting in Norway was regulated much earlier than that. In king Magnus VI Lagabøtes State Law of 1274 there where rules about piloting the ships of the Leidag (navy) - since that law almost exclusively is a written combination of the two main regional laws of Gulating and Frostating the rules are probably even much older than that. Further old traces of piloting in Norway can be found in the city law of Bergen of 1276 that demanded that captains of merchant ships are responsible for using a pilot and the costs thereof.

But from 1720 state pilots became civil servants that had to prove their competence and swear loyalty to the king.


Behind the look out for the pilots I found this old kiosk. I don't know anything about it just find it cute.

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