Optimising ship-marine pilot assignments using AHP and VIKOR: a case study in maritime safety

The importance of marine pilots in maintaining the safety of maritime operations, especially in confined waters and challenging port conditions, is discussed in this study. Considering that there is no formalised model for assigning marine pilots to ships, this study examines various factors that chief marine pilots, who assign pilots to ships, take into account during the assignment process, such as experience, rest hours, physical fitness, personal compatibility, and ship-pier characteristics. The limitations of current assignment practices, such as the sequential ‘Board’ system which primarily considers only the pilot's rest hours and does not fully account for the suitability of a pilot's current condition for safe operation, are highlighted in this paper considering the importance of local expertise and regulation developments in Turkey. Through a survey and structured interviews with chief pilots and experienced pilots, important factors affecting ship-pilot assignment were determined. A questionnaire was prepared for particular vessel types based on these findings, asking chief pilots to rate each criterion in order of their relative importance compared to one another. AHP and VIKOR approaches are used in a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework to methodically address these criteria. This approach enhances the reliability and safety of pilotage assignments.