The Master-Pilot Exchange (MPX): What It Covers and How to Standardize It

Almost every serious pilotage incident report contains the same sentence in some form: the passage plan was not adequately exchanged or agreed between the master and the pilot. The Master-Pilot Exchange (MPX) is the conversation that is supposed to prevent exactly that — and because it happens verbally, under time pressure, minutes after boarding, it is also the one most likely to be incomplete.

This guide covers what a thorough MPX actually contains, why it matters legally and operationally, and how to turn it from an ad-hoc chat into a standardized, recorded card.

What the MPX is for

The pilot brings local knowledge — the channel, the tides, the berth, the traffic, the tugs. The master brings the ship — its handling, its quirks, its defects, its draft and trim today. Neither has the complete picture alone. The MPX is the structured handshake where those two knowledge sets are reconciled into one agreed plan before the ship is committed to the passage.

The key word is agreed. The pilot does not take over the ship; the master remains in command. The exchange exists so that both parties share the same mental model and either can challenge the other when reality diverges from the plan.

What a complete MPX covers

A thorough exchange runs through, at minimum:

• Ship's particulars and condition today — length, beam, current draft fore and aft, air draft, and any change since the last call.
• Maneuvering characteristics — turning circle, stopping distance, pitch/rpm response, thruster availability, and any handling peculiarity the master wants the pilot to know.
• The passage plan — intended track, speeds, key waypoints, and abort points. The pilot's plan and the ship's planned route should be laid side by side.
• Speeds and UKC — planned speed through each leg and the under-keel clearance margin, especially where squat in shallow or confined water matters (see our guide to squat and UKC).
• Tug plan — how many, when made fast, escort vs. assist, and bollard pull.
• Defects and limitations — anything degraded: a thruster down, a sticky telegraph, a steering gear note, a radar out.
• Contingencies — what happens if a tug fails, if the wind builds, if a meeting situation develops in the narrows.
• Communications and roles — VHF channels, helm-order language, and who is conning.

Why it is worth recording, not just saying

Three reasons associations and pilots increasingly document the exchange rather than leave it verbal:

1. Investigations look for it. When something goes wrong, the first question is whether the plan was exchanged and agreed. A contemporaneous record is the difference between "we discussed it" and a defensible account of what was actually agreed.
2. It forces completeness. A spoken exchange skips items under time pressure. A card with fields does not let you forget the air draft or the tug plan.
3. It builds an institutional memory. The same ship calls again. A recorded MPX — plus accumulated pilot notes on that vessel — means the next pilot starts informed rather than from zero.

Making it repeatable

The goal is not bureaucracy; it is a fast, standard card the pilot completes on the way in and the master agrees on screen. In Binnacle Passage, the MPX is a structured form attached to the transit: particulars, passage, speed and UKC, tugs, defects, and contingencies, with the master's on-screen agreement captured against the record. Because it is tied to the transit, it lands in the same place as the ladder inspection, the tug order, and the eventual billing — one continuous record of the job rather than a loose sheet that may or may not survive the watch.

Paired with a standardized pilot ladder safety check at boarding, the MPX closes the two highest-risk moments of any transit: getting aboard, and agreeing the plan.

A practical minimum

If your association does nothing else, standardize three things:

• A fixed field list so no exchange skips an item.
• A record per transit, captured at the time, not reconstructed later.
• A vessel history so recurring ships carry forward their notes.

The MPX has always been the right idea. Making it a card rather than a conversation is what makes it reliable.

This article is informational and does not replace your association's procedures, IMO Resolution A.960, or SOLAS requirements.