Legal requirements force the state to ensure the pilotage of ships entering and leaving German waters, especially into rivers. The Pilots themselves deliver this task as independent state-appointed technical advisors to the respective captain on board. The Government secures the transport for the pilots to and from the ships. Along the Baltic Sea coast from Lübeck to the Polish border, this was commissioned in 1995 to a newly founded pilot shipping company founded by Büning & Partner and Unterweserreederei AG.