Danish Pilot Service

The Danish Pilot Service focuses on Tango, the only route into and out of the Baltic for ships with a draught in excess of eight metres – in other words sizable cargo carrying vessels. The route from the Atlantic to the Baltic ports looks like a vast expanse of water, on the surface. Underneath it is a potentially disastrous maze of mud banks and shallow trenches.

Eighty-five million people live within an hour’s drive of the Baltic coast, a considerable market for global trade. Within three hours that number grows to 200 million. Geology has been kind to the Baltic states, underground there are vast natural mineral resources, above ground forests of timber provide the materials for heating and furnishing much of the world. The gateway to and from the Baltic is a 290 nautical mile (540 km) line from Skagen in the north to Gedser in the south. The vessels maneuver a complicated zig-zag, avoiding mud banks and taking up to 24 hours with a maximum of three pilot shifts.