About Us
Welcome
For 100 years, Jacobsen Pilot Service (JPS) has been safely and efficiently Piloting a wide variety of ships from around the world through the Port of Long Beach. The team at JPS is proud to handle more than $200B of cargo annually, contributing to significant international trade for one of the world’s busiest ports.
The Pilots at JPS are highly specialized and trained in precision navigation. Utilizing their navigational experience and some of the most advanced technology available, they safely move more than 7,000 ships annually. Many of these ships are some of the largest in the world.
Jacobsen Pilot Service welcomes you to the Port of Long Beach!
For 100 years, the Jacobsen family and its employees have skillfully shepherded ships from masted schooners to vessels that are as long as skyscrapers are tall.
Jacobsen Pilot Service—whose family roots stretch back to a Norwegian fishing village—was started three generations ago, in 1924, by Captain Jacob A. Jacobsen. The company’s current CEO, Thomas A. Jacobsen, has continued to honor the company’s long-held goal of moving ships safely and efficiently.
For a century, the company has been widely recognized as a leader in customer service, technology, and innovation.
Jacobsen Pilot Service was the first in the United States to install shore-side radar at the Port of Long Beach in 1949. In the years that followed, the company expanded radar technology further by utilizing fiber optics and microwave for remote radars.
In 1962, “containerization” became a game changer for the shipping industry. Suddenly, 80% of cargo became containerized and ships began to accommodate significantly larger loads. Jacobsen Pilot Service evolved with the industry, safely piloting even the largest container ships into the Port.
In 1990, the company formed a partnership between the Marine Exchange of Southern California and the US Coast Guard to run a unique vessel traffic system.
In 1996, it developed the first Differential Global Positioning System, the carry-on-board “PilotMate.”
In 2000, JPS earned the distinction of becoming the first and only Piloting company to become ISO 9001 certified.
In 2023, Jacobsen contributed to building a new tool, S-102, developed under NOAA’s Precision Marine Navigation Program, to provide high-resolution depth data.
The company prides itself on acting as a partner with the Port, helping to keep Long Beach number one on the West Coast.
