We’ve all seen how difficult it can be to drive a container ship through the Suez Canal. How do captains squeeze those massive vessels into a crowded dock?
On “Do You Work Here?” Captain John Mayer, a harbor pilot with the Los Angeles Pilot Service, took Mike Simpson for a ride to show him how it's done.
Mayer describes himself as a “valet parking attendant for large vessels.” He’s responsible for getting incoming ships to the dock and pulling them into position, sometimes with just inches to spare.
Here’s how it starts: when a ship’s coming in, Mayer sails a boat out to meet them. Once the two vessels are side by side, he grabs onto a hanging ladder on the cargo ship and climbs up the side. And yes, that’s as dangerous as it sounds.
“There's this moment in time where if you hesitate during that commit stage, and you hold on to the boat and hold on to the ladder, that's where all the problems happen,” Mayer said. “Because now there's two things moving in opposite directions … and then you’re going to tumble and fall.”
Then comes the tricky part: getting the ship into the port and bringing it to a stop. Luckily, Mayer has a whole crew to help him.
“Piloting isn't standing behind the wheel and you driving it yourself,” he explained. “Piloting is telling them what to do, having them put the ship where you want it, where you could focus on other things. Like, are the cranes down? Is this vessel going to get out of our way? Do we need to talk to them?”
In preparation for the job, Mayer had to spend 64 days studying to learn how to draw a detailed map of the entire harbor from memory. It’s difficult work – but it pays pretty well.
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