Code of Alabama - Title 33: Navigation and Watercourses - Chapter 4A - State Pilotage Commission
- Section 33-4A-1 Applicability
This chapter shall only apply to Class 2 municipalities.
- Section 33-4A-2 Creation; composition; powers and duties; quorum
(a) There shall be a board of pilotage commissioners in each Class 2 municipality, to be known as the State Pilotage Commission. The commission shall...
- Section 33-4A-3 Qualifications of commissioners
All of the members of the commission, at the time of their appointment and during their respective terms of office, shall be citizens of the...
- Section 33-4A-4 Appointment; terms; expenses
The initial appointees to the commission shall be the members of the State Pilotage Commission appointed by the Governor pursuant to the Code of Alabama...
- Section 33-4A-5 Bond of commissioners
Before entering upon the duties of their office, the commissioners shall execute a bond in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000), for the faithful...
- Section 33-4A-6 Chair; acting chair
The commissioners shall elect a chair to preside at its meetings who shall not be the bar pilot commission member. It shall be the duty...
- Section 33-4A-7 Secretary
The commission may employ a secretary who shall not be a member of the commission and who shall be paid an annual salary set by...
- Section 33-4A-8 Audits; exemption from Sunset Law
(a) The commission shall have a financial and compliance audit performed each year and supply a copy of the audit to the Alabama State Port...
- Section 33-4A-9 Meetings
The commissioners shall meet at least once every three months at the time and place selected by the commission.
- Section 33-4A-10 Vacancies
If a vacancy occurs from any cause in the office of a commissioner before the expiration of his or her current term, a successor must...
- Section 33-4A-11 Jurisdiction of commission - Territorial
The jurisdiction of the commission under this chapter shall extend over all vessels and pilots using the waterways of Mobile Bay and its rivers intending...
- Section 33-4A-12 Jurisdiction of commission - Harbor masters
The commission shall not have jurisdiction over harbor masters or deputy masters in any harbor or seaport in the Port of Mobile.
- Section 33-4A-13 Rulemaking authority
The commission shall have the power and authority to make all necessary rules and regulations regulating the piloting of ships and all watercrafts into and...
- Section 33-4A-14 Civil actions to recover forfeitures
The commissioners, in their own names as commissioners or in that of their chair, may bring a civil action for and recover any forfeiture accruing...
- Section 33-4A-15 Recordkeeping
The commissioners shall preserve a record of their acts and of the rules and regulations adopted by them for the direction and government of pilots....
- Section 33-4A-16 Number of pilots; qualifications
(a) At no time shall there exist more apprentices or pilots than are reasonably necessary to meet the requirements of commerce. The number of apprentices...
- Section 33-4A-17 Register of applicants for apprenticeship; seniority; statutory requirements
(a) In order to prevent delays in the apprenticeship and branching of bar pilots, the commission, when necessary, shall maintain a register of applicants containing...
- Section 33-4A-18 Selection of apprentices
All apprentices, before becoming eligible for service as apprentices, shall be selected and approved by the commission.
- Section 33-4A-19 Discharge of apprentice; appeal
A Mobile Bay or bar pilot apprentice may not be discharged except for cause, and any apprentice or boatkeeper so discharged may appeal the discharge...
- Section 33-4A-20 Branching or licensing criteria
To be eligible to be branched or licensed as the next bar pilot, a person shall meet all of the following criteria at the time...
- Section 33-4A-21 Examination and certification
Before an applicant is branched or licensed, the commission shall prepare in writing suitable questions to test his or her knowledge and competency to become...
- Section 33-4A-22 Passing examination entitles apprentice pilot to license, etc
An apprentice pilot who has successfully passed an examination for a Mobile Bay or bar pilot shall not be required to undergo or pass another...
- Section 33-4A-23 Issuance of license; possession and exhibition of license; oath of pilot
The commission shall issue to each bar pilot licensed and branched by the commission an original and a duplicate certificate of his or her appointment,...
- Section 33-4A-24 Levy, payment, and disposition of pilot's license tax
There is levied upon each licensed bar pilot engaged in service as a bar pilot under this chapter a license or privilege tax in the...
- Section 33-4A-25 Bond of pilot - Required; amount; conditions; renewal
Before receiving his or her branch, the bar pilot must make and deliver to the commissioners a bond payable to the chair of the commission...
- Section 33-4A-26 Bond of pilot - Preserving bonds, etc.; new bonds; actions on bonds; liabilty
(a) The commissioners shall preserve on file all bonds and affidavits taken from bar pilots, and, whenever they consider it necessary, may require a new...
- Section 33-4A-27 Suspension or revocation of license - Notice; hearing
For any violation by any bar pilot of any of the provisions of this chapter, or any of the rules established by the commission under...
- Section 33-4A-28 Suspension or revocation of license - Witnesses' fees
Witnesses may be paid a reasonable fee, as determined by the commission, for attendance at the hearing. The witness fees shall be paid out of...
- Section 33-4A-29 Suspension or revocation of license - Subpoenas
The bar pilot against whom the charges have been filed, upon depositing with the secretary of the commission an amount sufficient to cover the costs...
- Section 33-4A-30 Suspension or revocation of license - Conduct of hearings
The hearing shall be conducted under the rules as the commission may from time to time establish. The commission shall hear the testimony of the...
- Section 33-4A-31 Grounds for depriving pilot of branch
The commission may deprive any pilot of his or her branch for a willful violation of his or her duties, or the orders or rules...
- Section 33-4A-32 Penalty for acting without license
Any person who pilots a foreign vessel, or an American vessel under register, or any other vessel subject to the payment of pilotage fees under...
- Section 33-4A-33 Pay of pilots - Generally
(a) The master, owner, agent, or operator of any ship or vessel shall pay the bar pilot who conducts a vessel into or out of...
- Section 33-4A-34 Pay of pilots - Time of payment
A bar pilot who has brought a vessel into port is entitled to his or her fees before the vessel's departure from port, to be...
- Section 33-4A-35 Pay of pilots - Fees of pilots retained on vessels
If the master of any vessel retains a bar pilot on board, the wind and weather permitting the vessel going to sea, the bar pilot...
- Section 33-4A-36 Pay of pilots - No discrimination or rebating of pilot's fees
There shall be no discrimination among vessels subject to the payment of pilotage fees, and any person who rebates any pilotage fees or seeks a...
- Section 33-4A-37 Pay of pilots - Exemptions from payment of pilot's fees
All vessels, whether sail, steam, or propelled by any other motive power, including vessels, barges, and rafts in tow, engaged in coastwise trade, including those...
- Section 33-4A-38 Compulsory retirement of bar pilots
Every bar pilot licensed and branched by the commission upon reaching the age of 68 years shall be required to retire and surrender his or...
- Section 33-4A-39 Vessels required to take pilots
All steam or motor vessels crossing the outer bar of Mobile Bay, except those exempt under this chapter, shall be conducted, controlled, or navigated by...
- Section 33-4A-40 Report of unlawful discharge of ballast, sweepings, rubbish, etc., in bay, etc
Every bar pilot, having knowledge of the discharge of ballast, sweepings, screenings, cinders, refuse, and rubbish of any kind in the Bay of Mobile or...
Last modified: May 3, 2021