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Ensuring your safety

The primary role of Lower St. Lawrence pilots is to ensure safe navigation, respecting not only the safety of those who live along the river and use it, but also environmental and economic safety.

Any number of incidents could affect the health and safety of the communities located along the river and of those using the river for recreational purposes. We need only think of: :

Toxic spills;
Strandings;
Collisions;
Shipwrecks.

Environmental Safety

Every year a considerable quantity and diversity of toxic products are transported on ships using the St. Lawrence River.

The territory covered by the pilots of the Lower St. Lawrence is a gem of both flora and fauna – particularly the Charlevoix region, which in 1988 was recognized as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere program.

Economic Safety

Millions of tonnes of merchandise and raw materials are transited every year on the St. Lawrence River, with an economic impact worth billions of dollars.

Any stoppage of traffic on the St. Lawrence as a result of an accident or a stranding would automatically entail major economic losses.