Interesting enough that I spent this morning reading.
Pilot fees are proposed by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Pilots Association ( the St. Lawrence Seaway and Lake Ontario, also known as District 1), the Lakes Pilots Association ( Lake Erie, the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, also known as District 2), and Western Great Lakes Pilots Association ( Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron, the Soo Locks and the St. Mary's River, also known as District 3). And in conjunction with Canada's Great Lakes Pilotage Association. The Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security have final jurisdiction, and the USCG is placed with the duty of administration.
Under the Great Lake Pilotage Act of 1960, the rates are reviewed yearly by the Federal Government. The usual goal is to audit the pilots associations, to compare current rates to projected revenues from the USCG, and to have parity with the rates of Canada and the other maritime associations. A large percent of the increase would be borne by foreign flag operators.
What I see at issue here (and I'm not a lawyer or have any meaningful knowledge of the issues) is that the pilotage fees last set in 2015 were increased in 2016 by as much as 58% over the next two years, reflecting the process outlined above. In response, a group of port associations and shipping interests have sued the Federal Government over the increases.
The Draken Harald was built and funded through the generosity of the Norwegian oil and gas magnate Sigurd Aase. He is CEO of a giant corporation, Crudecorp. It's owned and operated through an entity called Drakenexpedition that Aase controls. Crudecorp of course relies on shipping to move and sell its products.
The $ 400,000 figure was put out by that group as an estimate of the pilotage costs for the entire summer, including a trip down to Chicago. That seems about right, $ 10,000 per day times 40 days. It really has nothing to do with the Tall Ships event in Duluth, which is three days.
To say that the fees came as a surprise smells oily to me. And to pay them, which is commensurate with the fees imposed on other commercial vessels, also seems well within their reach. But its not my money.