I'm being to think he didn't get to the Port of Philly........the river pilots are placed on board when a ship reachs the Delaware Bay as it makes its trek up the Bay into the Delaware River.
Good point. Do you think the reporter screwed up, and it was the pilot that actually saw something odd and reported it?
Actually the pilot comes on board out in the ocean, just outside Delaware Bay, and a good 125 miles away from Philadelphia.
One thing I think many people caught up in "terror ship" hype aren't aware of is that every tanker and freighter that enters a US port is guided there by an American pilot who comes on board and takes over, and that these pilots typically get on the ship quite a long way from any ports or cities.
Conceivable that the "pilot" was confused with "ship's master" somehow.