A Master Navigator is always responsible for the navigation and safety of his ship, while a shipowner has a corresponding liability for damage arising from navigational incidents.
However, this can also make a shipowner liable for acts of an independent third party. It is important that a Master is able to exercise his discretion, on navigational matters, to ensure safety of the ship and its crew. Given the remote locations to which ships sometimes have to sail, when in unfamiliar waters, a Master and bridge team are in practice likely to defer to a pilot's perceived local expertise, with the result that in reality the ship is often under the pilot's control. Notwithstanding this heavy reliance on the pilot, in numerous jurisdictions throughout the world, the Master retains legal responsibility for navigational matters during pilot legs. The consequences of such continuing legal responsibility and therefore the Master being responsible for any error in navigation by the pilot, are two-fold. Firstly, shipowners can be left facing significant liabilities for damage resulting from navigational manoeuvres, which have gone awry. Secondly, pilots are effectively not accountable for their actions.
Without such accountability, there seems to be little incentive for a pilot to strive to ensure that the ship is handled properly and to err on the side of caution, if in doubt about the ship's ability to execute a particular manoeuvre.
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