Welcome to EMPA pilots

EMPA is a professional, non-profit organization, created in Antwerp in 1963 by pilots of what was then called the European Community.

Nowadays EMPA represents about 4.500 maritime pilots from 18 European Union member countries, and 6 neighbouring countries: Georgia, Montenegro, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Regrouping member countries' associations of maritime pilots from the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

News From Georgian Maritime Pilots

Georgian Maritime Pilots Elect New President On July 2, 2025, the Georgian Maritime Pilots Association (GMPA) held its General Meeting in Batumi.

We are pleased to share that Capt. IAGO MGELADZE has been elected as the new President of GMPA for the next four years.

Also elected to the board were Capt. Roland Zoidze (re-elected) and Capt. Mamuka Talakvadze.

We congratulate the newly elected leadership and wish them success in their important work ahead!

59th EMPA General Meeting – Kraków - Resolution

European maritime pilots express deep concern over the growing interference with navigation systems (radar, GNSS, AIS).

In an increasingly digital and vulnerable environment, EMPA reaffirms the irreplaceable role of human presence on board and in ports.

Authorities must ensure safety and resilience through professional expertise, redundant systems, and continuous oversight.

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4500 pilots

24 countries

EUROPEAN MARITIME PILOTS' ASSOCIATION