Title 33 — Title 33

This chapter shall only apply to Class 2 municipalities. History: (Act 2019-162, §1.)

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 be appointed by the Governor and hold office only for the unexpired portion of the term. History: (Act 2019-162, §10.)

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 to enter or exit the Port of Mobile, its facilities, and affiliated regulated entities of the port. History: (Act 2019-162, §1…

The commission shall not have jurisdiction over harbor masters or deputy masters in any harbor or seaport in the Port of Mobile. History: (Act 2019-162, §12.)

(a) The commission may make all necessary rules regulating the piloting of ships and all watercrafts into and out of any harbor or seaport until berthed at the docking facility in the Port of Mobile or until past the Mobile Entrance Lighted Buoy M. Maritime data produced by forei…

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 under this chapter not otherwise specifically appropriated. History: (Act 2019-162, §14.)

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. They shall also preserve upon record a list of all persons appointed pilots by them, and of those whom they may declare to have for…

(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 and pilots shall be determined by the commission. (b) The commission shall be the sole judge of the seniority and statutory qu…

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 no more than nine applicants for apprenticeship who must be not less than 21 years of age. (b) All pe…

All apprentices, before becoming eligible for service as apprentices, shall be selected and approved by the commission. History: (Act 2019-162, §18.)

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 to the commission, and if the commission, upon an investigation, finds that the discharge was without sufficient cause, the commiss…

(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 consist of three voting members. One voting member shall be engaged in a local maritime business, one voting member shall be an ac…

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 of branching or licensing: (1) The person shall be the senior apprentice, with seniority to be determined by date of satisfactory completion of all of th…

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 a bar pilot. The applicant, without any aid from any other person and without having been informed as to what question wou…

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 examination before being entitled to his or her license or status as a Mobile Bay or bar pilot. History: (Act 2019-162, §22.)

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, competency, and authority to act as a bar pilot, and as to the extent thereof, and shall reissue duplicate certificates f…

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 sum of one hundred dollars ($100) annually plus any reasonable additional assessment that arises and is necessarily incurred out of the performance …

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 and his or her successors, in the penal sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000) with surety to be approved by the commissioners, and with condit…

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 bond to be executed. The bar pilot’s bond stands as security for any injury caused by the negligence or want of skill…

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 the authority conferred upon the commission by this chapter, or under any authority which may be hereafter conferred upon the commission, the commi…

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 the funds of the commission. History: (Act 2019-162, §28.)

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 and expenses of serving the subpoenas, together with the mileage of the witnesses and an amount sufficient to cover at least three …

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 United States and qualified electors of the State of Alabama. History: (Act 2019-162, §3.)

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 witnesses and may administer oaths to the witnesses, and false swearing, after the administration of the oath by the commission, shall …

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 of the commission, or for negligently losing or injuring any vessel in his or her charge; or when laboring under mental derangement or when so addicted t…

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 this chapter, entering or leaving the Port of Mobile, in or out of the Bay of Mobile or over the outer bar thereof, without a license fr…

(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 the Bay or Harbor of Mobile a fee to be fixed by the commission at the rate of thirty-eight dollars ($38) per draft foot for actual draft of water at the t…

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 paid in advance, or security given for the payment and, on failure thereof, may refuse to carry the vessel out. History: (Act 2019-162, §34.)

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 is entitled to tariff fees as established and approved by the commission. History: (Act 2019-162, §35.)

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 rebate of pilotage fees or in any manner creates or aids in creating any scheme or plan by which a discrimination is effected in favor o…

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 engaged in trade or plying upon the navigable rivers of the State of Alabama, and all vessels exempt under the laws, …

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 her license or branch to the commission. History: (Act 2019-162, §38.)

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 a bar pilot licensed by or under authority of the laws of the State of Alabama. History: (Act 2019-162, §39.)

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 1975, as it existed prior to the enactment of this chapter, and holding office at the time of the enactment of this chapter. Th…

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 in any river emptying into the same, contrary to the law, as soon as practicable, shall give information thereof to the…

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 performance of the duties of the office. History: (Act 2019-162, §5.)

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 of the chair to supervise the official conduct of all the officers and employees of the commission. The chair may administer official oaths to t…

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 the commission. Before entering upon the duties of office, the secretary shall execute a bond in the amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000), for the …

(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 Authority and the Alabama Department of Commerce. In addition, an audit may be requested at any time by the Alabama State Port Authority or …

The commissioners shall meet at least once every three months at the time and place selected by the commission. History: (Act 2019-162, §9.)