Arrival Pilot Station (APS)
Also known as: aps, arrival pilot station
The point at which a vessel arrives to embark or disembark a marine pilot.
APS is a standard operational reference point in shipping. When a ship reaches the Arrival Pilot Station, a licensed pilot boards (or disembarks) to guide the vessel safely into or out of port. This point is often used in charter parties and port operations to mark arrival time, trigger notices, calculate laytime, and determine pilotage and port-related costs. For a layperson, it is essentially the ship’s official handover point to a local navigation expert.
