Title 52

The secretary of the commissioners shall have such salary or fees as the commissioners may determine, which salary or fees shall be paid out of fines and forfeitures or such other fund as shall be under the control of the commissioners. History. — Orig. Code 1863, § 1474; Code 186…

The commissioners at each of the ports of this state are entitled to license during good behavior such citizens of the United States who are of good character as they shall think fit to act as pilots in piloting vessels underway in the waters of the several ports and rivers for wh…

The number of licensed pilots shall not exceed 21 for the port of Savannah, three for the port of Doboy and Darien, eight for the port of Brunswick, two for the Great Satilla River, and two for the port of St. Marys. History. — Ga. L. 1886, p. 38, § 1; Civil Code 1895, § 1653; Ga…

No person other than a duly licensed pilot shall be entitled to receive any fee, gratuity, or reward for piloting any vessels underway in the waters of any of the ports, rivers, or harbors for which pilots may be licensed under the terms of this chapter. Nothing in this Code sect…

The license to a pilot must be in the form of a certificate of appointment, which must be signed by a majority of the commissioners or by their chairperson by their direction; and each pilot, on receiving a license, shall take and subscribe an oath in the following form: ‘‘I, A.B.…

Every pilot licensed as provided for in this chapter shall, before receiving his license, make and deliver to the commissioners a bond, payable to the chairman of the board and his successors in office, in the penal sum of $2,000.00, with security to be approved by the commission…

Any pilot who shall, with knowledge of the arrest of any vessel under process from any court of record, conduct or pilot the vessel out of the port or harbor where the arrest is made while the vessel is in charge of any officer of any court of record shall forfeit his license and…

The commissioners may suspend any pilot or deprive him of his license or assess against him such fines and other penalties as they may think best, upon evidence satisfactory to them of negligence, unskillfulness, inattention to duty, intemperance, addiction to the use of drugs, me…

All matters concerning the assessment of fines or penalties against pilots or other persons, the suspension or revocation of pilot licenses, and any other matter relating to the use, business, or care of a pilot in any of the harbors shall be heard and determined by the commission…

When the attendance of any person shall be required as a witness before the commissioners in any matter or claim of which they shall have jurisdiction, it shall be the duty of their secretary, upon application, to issue subpoenas signed by him and directed to the persons whose at…

Any witness summoned pursuant to Code Section 52-6-39, whose testimony shall appear to be material and who shall fail to appear, may be attached by the commissioners. The attachment may be directed to a sheriff or constable and made returnable to the next superior court of the co…

When the person whose attendance is required as a witness is a nonresident of the county where the matter or claim is pending or is a seaman, his interrogatories or depositions may be taken and returned to the commissioners in the manner provided by law for taking and returning i…

In any case where a pilot is suspended or the pilot’s license is revoked or where a fine exceeding $150.00 is imposed by the commissioners on a pilot or any other person, the pilot or other person concerned may petition the judge of the superior court of the county where the judgm…

In cases of appeal, testimony for use in the superior court may be taken and returned by interrogatories or depositions, under the circumstances and in the manner provided by law for the taking and returning of testimony in cases pending in the superior courts of this state. Hist…

The secretary’s fees for each subpoena shall be 25¢ and for each attachment 50¢. For serving any subpoena and for executing and returning an attachment, a sheriff’s or constable’s fee shall be charged as otherwise provided by law. The commissioner or notary public before whom tes…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, every vessel shall be under the direction and control of a pilot licensed by this state when underway in the bays, rivers, harbors, and ports of this state and the approaches thereto. (b) The requirement of subsection (a) of …

A pilot bringing a vessel into port or a pilot who has tendered his or her services outside the bar to a vessel which is required under this chapter to accept the services of a pilot shall be entitled to the payment of fees for inward, outward, and all other movements of the vess…

If any pilot shall ask or demand for his services greater or different fees than those specified in the rates of pilotage fixed by the commissioners, the commissioners shall, on due proof thereof, require him to pay the commissioners double the amount of the fees fixed by the commis…

(a) Any vessel that fails to take a pilot required under this chapter or that is operated in violation of any other requirement of this chapter or the regulations adopted by the commissioners under the authority of this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty by the commissioners…

Any pilot belonging to any port in this state meeting at sea with any vessel in distress, which is bound to another port within this state, shall, if capable and thereunto required, take charge of and pilot such vessel into such port and shall be paid $10.00 a day for every day h…

Any pilot boat which places a pilot on board a vessel for the purpose of conducting it into any of the rivers or harbors mentioned in this chapter shall be entitled to one-third of the inward pilotage fee and any pilot boat which takes a pilot off of a vessel shall be entitled to…

The owner, master, consignee, or charterer of any vessel who carries any pilot against his consent to any foreign or other port shall be liable to such pilot in an action on the case for the payment of his reasonable expenses and $10.00 a day during his necessary absence, provide…

Pilots for their respective ports shall be honorably retired at age 65 and no pilot who has been so retired shall thereafter be entitled to act as a licensed pilot, provided that no pilot shall be compulsorily retired at age 65 unless there is in effect a pension system for pilot…

(a) Any person who pilots or conducts any vessel underway in the waters of any of the bays, rivers, harbors, or ports of this state or the approaches thereto and who has no authority or license to act as a pilot or has had such authority or license suspended or revoked shall be g…

Filling of vacancies on board. Qualifications of commissioners. Areas for which commissioners appointed. Appointment of master pilot; duties of master pilot generally. Right of commissioners to bring an action to recover forfeitures. Manner of application of fines and forfeitures. …

Number of pilots. Restrictions as to persons who may receive fees, gratuities, or rewards for conducting or piloting vessels. Form of license; oath of pilot. Pilots’ bonds — Generally. Pilots’ bonds — Continuation of existing bonds; venue of actions on bonds; parties to actions. …

This article shall be known and may be cited as the ‘‘Georgia Boat Safety Act.’’ History. — Ga. L. 1973, p. 1427, § 1.

(a) The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any vessel, excluding those vessels documented by the United States Coast Guard and licensed pursuant to Code Section 27-2-8, shall be muffled or baffled and water injected, except those engines that exhaust through the …

(a) Categories. Requirements for lights on vessels operated within this state fall into two categories: regulations for vessels using inland waters (waters of this state) and regulations for vessels using international waters (coastal waters). Vessels equipped to meet internation…

(a) No person shall operate, navigate, steer, or drive any moving vessel, or be in actual physical control of any moving vessel, nor shall any person manipulate any moving water skis, moving aquaplane, moving surfboard, or similar moving device while: (1) Under the influence of al…

(a) Any person who, without malice aforethought, causes the death of another person through the violation of subsection (j) of Code Section 52-7-8.2, Code Section 52-7-12 or 52-7-12.1, subsection (b) of Code Section 52-7-13, or subsection (c) of Code Section 52-7-25 commits the o…

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, the term ‘‘unborn child’’ means a member of the species homo sapiens at any stage of development who is carried in the womb. (b)(1) A person commits the offense of feticide by vessel in the first degree if he or she causes the death of an…

Whoever, without malice, shall cause bodily harm to another by depriving him or her of a member of his or her body, by rendering a member of his or her body useless, by seriously disfiguring his or her body or a member thereof, or by causing organic brain damage which renders the …

(a) The test or tests required under Code Section 52-7-12 shall be administered as soon as possible at the request of a law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been operating or was in actual physical control of a moving vessel upon the wa…

(a) Any operator’s privilege to operate a vessel on the waters of this state required to be suspended under subsection (d) of Code Section 52-7-12.5 shall be suspended subject to the following terms and conditions: (1) Upon the first suspension pursuant to subsection (d) of Code S…

(a) Except as provided for in Code Sections 52-7-12, 52-7-12.5, and 52-7-12.6, and notwithstanding criminal proceedings that may be initiated by law, upon a determination by the department that a person has violated this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant ther…

(a)(1) The following are established as boating safety zones from May 1 through the following September 30: (A) The ocean waters adjacent to Jekyll Island, which shall include all those waters for a distance of 1,000 feet from the high-water mark on Jekyll Beach from the northern…

(a) Duty to render assistance and identify vessel and self. It shall be the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or other casualty, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, crew, and passengers, to render to other persons aff…

In accordance with any request duly made by an authorized official or agency of the United States, any information compiled or otherwise available to the department pursuant to subsection (c) of Code Section 52-7-14 shall be transmitted to such official or agency of the United St…

(a) No person shall operate a vessel on any of the waters of this state for towing a person or persons on water skis, aquaplane, surfboard, or any similar device unless the vessel is equipped with a wide-angle mirror mounted in such a manner as to permit the operator of the vesse…

(a) The speed of each vessel shall at all times be regulated so as to avoid danger or injury or damage or unnecessary inconvenience, directly or by the effect of the wash or wave raised by the vessel, while in the vicinity of swimming areas, docks, floating boat houses, moored boa…

(a) All vessels operating on the coastal waters of this state shall conform to the ‘‘Steering and Sailing Rules’’ established by Section II, Rules 11 through 18, of the International Navigation Rules Act of 1977, as amended. (b) All vessels operating on the inland waters of this …

(a) The department may regulate the holding of regattas, boat races, marine parades, tournaments, or exhibitions which by their nature, circumstance, or location will introduce extra or unusual hazards to the safety or lives of participants or observers or will subject the water …

It is the policy of this state to promote safety for persons and property in and connected with the use, operation, and equipment of vessels and to promote the uniformity of laws relating thereto. History. — Ga. L. 1973, p. 1427, § 2.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) ‘‘Aids to navigation’’ means buoys, beacons, or other fixed objects in the water which are used to mark obstructions to navigation or to direct navigation through safe channels. (2) ‘‘Regulatory markers’’ means any anchored or fixed m…

(a) This article and other applicable laws of this state shall govern the operation, equipment, and numbering of vessels and all other matters relating thereto, whenever any vessel shall be operated on the waters of this state or when any activity regulated by this article shall …