The International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) is spearheading an international effort to evaluate the feasibility and future use of remote pilotage in port approaches, harbours, rivers, and lakes — both for conventional ships and those operated remotely or autonomously.
London, 5 November 2025: The International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), in collaboration with the Canadian National Centre of Expertise on Maritime Pilotage (NCEMP) and the Canadian Coast Guard, has launched a second Request for Information (RFI) process to identify potential remote pilotage solutions suitable for trials. The trials are to be conducted as part of the International Study on Remote Pilotage.
This step is a direct consequence of the Study’s Technology Readiness Assessment. The report was published in September 2025 presented the results of an evaluation of two proposed solutions. It found limitations with both that compromise the Study’s ability to explore remote pilotage safely and effectively in port approaches, ports, canals, rivers, and lakes where pilotage is mandatory.
“Maritime pilots have always embraced new technology when demonstrable opportunities to enhance the performance of pilotage exist. We have an obligation to look at all possibilities,“ said Matthew Williams, Secretary General of IMPA. “However, we have not yet found a solution which can be trialled by the Study and allow it to achieve its objectives.”
The second RFI includes more detailed guidance for manufacturers and system integrators and encourages proponents to provide evidence that their solution meets the needs of operational pilotage workflows.
The IMPA-led Study includes the trialling of suitable remote pilotage solutions on the St. Lawrence River in Canada — one of the most complex and regulated waterways in the world. These trials will be critical to developing actionable insights for pilot organisations and competent authorities.
“We expect that with more guidance for manufacturers and system integrators, the second RFI will be successful in attracting further proposals to enable the trials. There is a lot of interest in our Study and we hope this interest will translate into proposals from major technology providers”, he concluded.
The RFI and associated guidance is available on the IMPA website.