Announcement of Final Successful Candidates for This Year's Pilot Trainee Selection Exam
Experts Guiding Trade Port Vessel Entry and Exit Routes
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the final successful candidates for this year's pilot trainee selection exam, with 25 people passing on the 8th. Pilots are specialized personnel who guide the routes of ships entering and leaving commercial ports, and only 256 pilots are working at ports nationwide.
Pilots must have a thorough understanding of information such as tides and water depth in the harbor to plan routes, and they must also possess steering skills to directly control ships. The essential process to become a pilot is to go through pilot trainee training.
According to the Pilot Act, only those who have served as captains on ships with a total tonnage of 6,000 tons or more for at least three years are eligible to take the pilot trainee selection exam. This year, 156 candidates applied, showing a competition ratio of about 6 to 1. The exam was conducted in two stages: written and interview.
The list of successful candidates can be checked from today on the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries website and the Korea Maritime Institute website. The average age of the successful candidates was 45.2 years, with the youngest being 38 and the oldest 60.
However, the 25 final successful candidates do not immediately become pilots. After being assigned to the port where they will work within this month, they undergo more than 200 practical pilot training sessions over six months. After passing the pilot exam held early next year, they receive an official pilot license issued directly by the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries and begin their activities.
As highly skilled professionals, their salaries are also high. The average annual salary of domestic pilots reaches 117 million KRW, and pilots working in some busy ports with frequent ship movements are known to earn up to about 500 million KRW annually.
Meanwhile, starting next year, to promote the influx of experienced personnel who have served on large vessels due to the trend of ship enlargement, candidates with experience as captains on ships of 100,000 tons or more for at least two years will receive an additional 2 bonus points.
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