Influential Woman · Maritime Piloting

Kelly Sparks Stsuffer

Delaware River Pilot ~ Retired, THE PILOTS ASSOCIATION FOR THE BAY AND RIVER DELAWARE

Philadelphia, PA

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Did not attend maritime school Degree Continuing education in ship handling Degree New technology Degree Radar equipment Degree Tracking equipment Degree And GPS equipment Member Pilots Association for the Bay and River Delaware (Retired Member)

Her Story

About Kelly

I was a ship pilot on the Delaware River, bringing commercial vessels of any length up and down the river for 27 and a half years, from June 1999 to March 2022. Before that, I served a four-year apprenticeship from June 1995 to June 1999. My father was a pilot on the Delaware River for over 30 years, and when an opportunity came along where they were taking apprentices, I decided to apply. I went through the application and interview process with hundreds of other candidates through the Pennsylvania Navigation Commission, and was fortunate enough to be one of 20 people accepted out of that group of applicants. I was the 9th woman pilot in the country and the first woman in the country to follow in her father's footsteps, which was a great honor. During my career, I was one of only two to four women piloting on the Delaware River. I was a partner in the Pilots Association for the Bay and River Delaware, and now I'm a retired member of that association. I retired four years ago.

Quick Facts

IndustryMaritime Piloting
Based inPhiladelphia, PA
Specialty Ship Piloting, Delaware River Navigation, Commercial Vessel Operations
Volunteers with Breast cancer research, SPCA

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Kelly

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say to her that it is a remarkable career. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet people from all over the world. It is stressful, so you need to be able to think on your feet. You need to be calm under very stressful situations. And, but it is probably the most enjoyable thing that you can possibly do for a living. The biggest challenge in working in a male-dominated field is finding the balance between maintaining the fact that I'm a strong, level-headed, competent woman and just being a person that's capable of doing this job regardless of the fact that I'm a woman. When you get on board a ship, the captain may or may not have seen a woman that's gonna take charge of their ship. So they stand, and they watch, and you just have to do the job. You just have to put aside the fact that you're being watched, because they only watch for a couple of minutes, and then they realize you're just like everybody else. And you just have to be mindful of that and just be like everybody else, because you are.

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