Today that type of skill is more associated with the docking pilots.

Not surprisingly, the 35 or so docking pilots were not wild about the idea.

The commissioners argue that regulating the docking pilots would help to ensure safety and security.

Once ships get close enough to land to need tugboats, docking pilots who work with the tug companies board the boats and take over.

"In effect, the legislation they're proposing would put us out of business altogether," said Simon Zorovich, a docking pilot.

One was that the tanker had hit an uncharted obstruction in the channel, as the docking pilot had asserted.

Docking pilots are experienced local mariners licensed by the Coast Guard who assist in berthing operations.

He fears that the docking pilots will eventually be absorbed by the bar pilots; there are more of them and they have more political influence.

Mr. Dacey concedes that the bill will make bar pilots and docking pilots interchangeable.

The role of a docking pilot, a mariner with experience in local waterways, is to assist the captain in berthing a vessel.

Capt. Douglas J. Brown, the docking pilot, climbs aboard.

Mr. Zorovich, the docking pilot, agreed.

With the aid of tugs, the docking pilots gingerly bring ships through the channels and twisting turns of the inner harbor.

Proposals for the 100 or so Sandy Hook pilots effectively to absorb the fewer that 30 docking pilots were met with fear and anger.

And then, after handing off to the docking pilot and watching the nautical ballet at the pier, Captain Jones disembarked.

A docking pilot is an independent contractor licensed by the Coast Guard and hired by the towing company, in this case Moran.

On the bridge were Capt. Albert Ainscough and the docking pilot, James Naughton.

The new rule had little practical effect, since the Sandy Hook pilots as well as the docking pilots already have Federal licenses.

From here Captain McNaught and his officers oversee sailing and docking, joined by the docking pilot.

The bar pilots, the older and more established of the piloting fraternity, are derisively referred to as "lords of the harbor" by some docking pilots.

"They say it's in the interest of safety, but the real docking experience is with the docking pilots, since we do about 95 percent of the docking work."

Attention focused on the role of the docking pilot, a local mariner who was on board to help the berthing at a terminal in Bayonne, N.J.

This is the domain of harbor pilots and docking pilots, with their detailed knowledge of the local aqueous geography and of a peculiar, intuitive physics.

The docking pilots proposed legislation of their own to allow experienced docking pilots to receive state licenses without going through the state training program.

But if a docking pilot is in charge and refuses, the shipowner can take advantage of the competition among tugboat companies and look for a more flexible pilot.