Norway’s first female pilot

Solgunn Homme Brevik (1972-)

Until Solgunn Homme Breivik received pilot-license in 2006, piloting was known to be a male profession. The job has always been seen as challenging, and although navigation equipment has become increasingly advanced, the main task of the pilot still has to be executed “in the old way”, based on thorough knowledge of local conditions and the basic skills of navigation and seamanship.

Solgunn Homme Breivik explains that the old, geographical references, bearings, and marks are still used to control the position of the ship. This, combined with local knowledge about tide, currents, wind, and weather is kept alive still, both in our heads and in our spines, she says.

The way pilots enter ships have not changed so much either, during the last hundred years. The most common way is still to climb a ladder, and it takes both planning, timing, and some courage to be able to enter and leave the ships safely in all kinds of weather.

To become a pilot, she says, you must have some experience as captain or first mate. And if you are found qualified to become an aspirant, you must go through an extensive education programme.

You must learn all the placenames and the light characters of all beacons in your area, and then there is extensive practical training. On examination day, you must be able to describe the whole fairway in detail by heart.

Before she became a pilot, Solgunn had sailed as mate on cargo-ships, different ferries and Hurtigruta (The Norwegian coastal express): the passenger and cargo service that runs all the way between Bergen and Kirkenes on the north coast.

- There are several stories, she says, of strong women who to some degree, acted as pilots long before my time. Now we are five, but more will come, I believe. And she adds:

- The modern pilot must be able to cooperate with people from all over the world. During my 14 years as a pilot, I have served on international cruise-ships, cargo-ships, and even stood shivering outside in the tower of foreign submarines. But not once have I had any trouble because of being a female.