ALBANY – Legislation that corrects an existing unfunded liability in the pension structure for retired and active Hudson River pilots has been signed into law by the governor. It was sponsored in the Assembly by Kevin Cahill (D, Kingston) and in the Senate by William Larkin (R, Cornwall-on-Hudson).
Cahill said the measure mirrors a 1995 law that created a retirement system for the Sandy Hook Pilots Association that has proven to be a sound, long-term solution for pilots and shippers alike.
“This legislation, the Hudson River Pilots law, will take care of an unfunded pension that existed over the course of years,” Cahill said. “Hudson River pilots, that is those people who are trained specifically to ply the Hudson River, to navigate shoals, sand banks, dips in the current, will now have a means by which their pension will be funded. What our hope is that it will not only help those people who are retiring, but that it will also encourage people to seek out the profession of being a pilot on the Hudson River.”
Cahill said the responsibility of a navigator to be familiar with his or her route on transport has become even more important in recent years as cargo regularly includes crude oil and other dangerous chemicals.
Captain Ian Corcoran, president of the Hudson River Pilots’ Association,
said the legislation “will help the Hudson River Pilots in continuing
to provide first class state pilotage service for the Hudson River.”
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