Title 33

All moneys hereby pledged shall constitute a sinking fund for the purpose of paying the principal of, premium, if any, and the interest on the docks facilities revenue bonds and refunding bonds. As security for the payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the…

It is the intention of the Legislature in enacting this article to preserve inviolate all appropriations and pledges heretofore made of any portion of any revenues of the department for the benefit of any of the outstanding bonds. The state does hereby covenant and agree with the…

For the benefit of the holders from time to time of the docks facilities revenue bonds and the refunding bonds herein authorized, and in order to secure maximum prices for said bonds, and in consideration of the purchase and acceptance of said bonds by such holders, the departmen…

In the event there shall have been established any reserve or other similar funds for the benefit of any of the outstanding bonds and if the outstanding bonds for which those funds were established are refunded in full by the issuance of refunding bonds hereunder and if under the…

The words and terms used in this division shall have the same definitions as provided in Section 33-2-180. In addition, the following words and terms shall be given the following respective meanings: (1) INDENTURE. Any mortgage, indenture of mortgage, deed of trust, trust agreeme…

(a) The department, from time to time, may issue special purpose obligations, which shall be limited obligations of the department payable from and secured solely by a pledge of private facility payments made by or on behalf of one or more commercial enterprises for the right to …

The department, from time to time, may enter into or execute and deliver short-term obligations. Any short-term obligations shall not be general obligations of the department, but shall be payable solely from docks facilities revenues and shall be subject to repayment in not more…

As security for the payment of any obligations agreed to in any swap agreement, as defined in subdivision (3) of Section 41-1-41, the department may pledge for payment of the obligations, all or any part of its docks facilities revenues; provided, however, that any pledge of its …

Beginning with the fiscal year commencing on October 1, 1987, the first nine million five hundred thousand dollars ($9,500,000) of the net amount of all taxes required to be deposited to or certified into the State Treasury to the credit of the State General Fund pursuant to Sect…

During the first 20 days of each quarter of each fiscal year of the state, beginning with the fiscal year commencing on October 1, 1987, the Director of the Alabama State Port Authority shall notify the Director of Finance in writing as to whether the revenues anticipated to be d…

Within 20 days after the close of any quarter of any fiscal year during which moneys have been transferred and paid to the Alabama State Port Authority pursuant to a notification of expected deficiency as described in Section 33-2-211, a written report shall be filed by the Direc…

Any provision of or implication in this article to the contrary notwithstanding, no amount transferred and paid to the Alabama State Port Authority pursuant to this article may be pledged by the port authority to pay principal of or interest on any bonds or other obligations issu…

It is hereby made the duty of the Alabama State Port Authority to police and maintain general supervision of the harbor and Port of Mobile, as such harbor lines may be established by the authority from time to time, and of all vessels in and about the same; to coordinate with fed…

The Alabama State Port Authority through its Harbor Master and deputy harbor masters shall have full power to regulate shifting, removal, anchorage, berthage, and moorage, and the position of all vessels, rafts, and other watercraft while in the harbor and port, as defined in thi…

For the purpose of meeting the expense attendant upon the general and special supervision of the harbor and Port of Mobile and the performance of the duties and service required by this chapter, and by the rules and regulations herein authorized, and of similar duties relating to…

The Director of the Alabama State Port Authority shall appoint a Harbor Master and may appoint up to three deputy harbor masters. It shall be the duty of the Harbor Master with the assistance of his or her deputy harbor masters, subject to the supervision of the Alabama State Por…

The Harbor Master and his or her deputy harbor masters shall be subject to removal by the director for cause. Before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, they shall execute to the State of Alabama a bond, to be approved by the Director, in amounts to be fixed by …

Any person who shall perform the duties of a Harbor Master or a deputy harbor master or a harbor pilot without being qualified and appointed as provided by law to perform such duties shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (Code 1907, §7812; Code 1923, §5538; Code 1940, T. 38, …

This chapter shall only apply to Class 2 municipalities. (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. (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. (Act 2019-162, §11.)

The commission shall not have jurisdiction over harbor masters or deputy masters in any harbor or seaport in the Port of Mobile. (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. (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…

(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 pending and futu…

All apprentices, before becoming eligible for service as apprentices, shall be selected and approved by the commission. (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. (Act 2019-162, §22.)

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 from tim…

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…

(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 of the ba…

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. (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. (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. (Act 2019-162, §34.)