Dear Members and Friends of EMPA,

The next EMPA General Meeting is just around the corner.

We are delighted that this year it can be held in its usual form and without restriction.

We are also excited that this year’s venue will be Rome, the “eternal city”, where the GM will be held from 25 – 28 April 2023.

I wish in particular to thank our colleagues at Fedepiloti for the excellent organisation, which always involves a great deal of work.

I must also thank the Members of the Board and the Secretariat for all their generous help and advice.

May I once again draw the attention of every participant to our sponsors, whose displays and stands will be of interest to everybody involved in pilotage.

This brings me to the sponsors themselves, who I wish to thank for their commitment and support and without whom it would be impossible to organise our GM in a place like Rome.

On this occasion the central theme of our GM is “Pilotage – The Value of Human Capital”

With all the current focus on automation and autonomy in shipping, we feel there is an urgent need to stress the human contribution as a key element of every process.

Our profession would be inconceivable without human intuition and the experience, competence, knowledge, skill and ability of everybody involved in pilotage.

We refer not just to the fully trained pilot who carries out a highly complex manoeuvre on board the ship together with the crew, but also to the importance of training on board, the interaction of on-board pilots and shore-based establishments, as well as to the important task of those who safely ferry pilots to and from the ship.

We are proud that we have been able to attract a large number of international speakers who can examine these aspects from their own particular perspective and abundant experience.

I, and no doubt you, look forward to this event and the attractive partner programme, but most of all to the opportunity of speaking to pilot colleagues and reconnecting with friends from all of EMPA’s member countries.