Title 46, Title 46 and Navigation

No insurer of a vessel, who has paid the loss thereon, shall, by reason of the insurance, be held liable to remove the vessel, or to pay the cost and expenses of the removal, under the provisions of this chapter, unless the insurer has exercised some act of ownership or control o…

A commissioner of wrecks and shipwrecked goods shall not be liable to the provisions of this chapter by reason of anything done by the commissioner in discharge of his or her office as the commissioner; but he or she shall, upon notice and request by the director of the departmen…

It shall be the duty of commissioners of wrecks and shipwrecked goods, and of harbormasters, to give immediate notice to the department of environmental management of all shipwrecks occurring in tidewaters of their respective towns and harbors and of any obstructions existing the…

It shall be the duty of the department of environmental management to make application in behalf of the state for the reimbursement of any sums expended under this chapter, which in the opinion of the director of the department of environmental management might properly be paid b…

The provisions of this chapter shall be severable and, if any of the provisions shall be held invalid, the decision of the court respecting that provision or provisions shall not affect the validity of any other provision which can be given effect without that invalid provision.

All persons who shall build into or over public tidewaters, by authority of the department or by authority of the general assembly, any wharf, pier, bridge, or other structure, or drive any piles into the land under public tidewater, or fill any flats, shall, before beginning the…

Every erection made into or encroachment upon the public tidewaters of the state, not authorized by the general assembly or by the department of environmental management, shall be deemed to be a public nuisance and shall be prosecuted as such by the attorney general.

No person shall put any substance in the Blackstone River or in the Seekonk River, or do any act or shall permit anything within his or her control to be done or shall do or permit anything within his or her control to be continued to be done, that shall cause any substance to be…

No person shall deposit any mud, earth, sand, gravel, ashes, cinders, or other substances in the main channel of Providence River leading to the city of Providence, or in any part of the river or of Warren River or of Narragansett Bay lying east of the main channel and north of a…

No person shall set any post, drive any spile, or erect or continue any obstruction into or upon the public waters adjoining to and on the westerly side of Goat Island in the harbor of Newport, between the island and the main channel which separates the island from the island of …

Whenever a wrecked, sunken or abandoned vessel, an abandoned hulk, hull, barge or pilings, or any unlawful or unauthorized structure or thing is deposited or suffered to be or remain in the tidewaters of this state, and in the judgment of the director of the department of environ…

As used in this chapter: (1) “Abandoned vessel” means a vessel that has been left, moored, or anchored in the same area without the express consent, or contrary to the rules of, the owner, manager, or lessee of the submerged lands or waters below or on which the vessel is located…

(a) If any person resident or being in the United States is known to the director as the owner of a vessel, or any interest therein, or as having or exercising any control over the vessel as master, agent, insurer, or otherwise, or, in case of any other unlawful or unauthorized o…

The director of the department of environmental management shall accurately mark the channel of the Pawtucket River by erecting and placing suitable stakes and buoys along the sides of the channel at the request and for the convenience of persons interested in the navigation of t…

The owner or the person having charge of any vessel, scow, boat, seine, or raft of any kind, which shall be made fast to any stake or buoy erected or placed for the security or guidance of vessels navigating the river, and every person who shall in any way willfully injure, remov…

Every owner and every person having the charge of any vessel, scow, boat, seine, or raft of any kind, which shall be made fast to any stake or buoy which has been or shall be placed, at the expense of the United States, for the security and direction of vessels either in Providen…

For any offense committed in Providence River or in any part of Narragansett Bay or the waters thereof north of Conimicut Point, the action may be brought in the county of Providence or in the county of Kent, and the part of the forfeiture belonging to the United States for the o…

Every person who shall make fast any ship, vessel, scow, boat, seine, or raft of any kind to the buoy on the shoal south of Conimicut Point or to the stake on that point or to the flagstaff on the halfway rock or to any stake which has been or may be placed at the mouth of Bristo…

The captain, owner, or owners of every ship or vessel that shall, by running against or otherwise, injure the beacon on Castle Island, at the entrance of Bristol Harbor, or any buoy placed or hereafter to be placed, at the expense of the United States, in any of the waters of Nar…

When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall be construed as follows: (1) “Licensing authority” means the department of environmental management. (2) “Outboard motor” means any marine motor not permanently fastened to a boat so as to be an integral part of the…

Any person who is the owner of an outboard motor for use on any waters within the territorial limits of the State of Rhode Island shall register the outboard motor as provided in § 46-8-3 within ten (10) days after the ownership is acquired.

The licensing authority shall, upon application of any owner of an outboard motor to be used on the territorial waters of the State of Rhode Island, issue a registration certificate to that person.

The registration certificate shall be in a form to be prescribed by the director, and shall indicate the name, address, and signature of the owner of the outboard motor, together with the horsepower, serial, and motor numbers, or other identification numbers of the motor; provide…

A fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be charged for the registration certificate; provided, however, that registrations obtained for use by the United States or any agency thereof or the State of Rhode Island or any city or town shall be exempt from payment of any fee.

Within seven (7) days after an outboard motor has been sold, assigned, lost, or destroyed, the owner of the outboard motor shall notify the licensing authorities of the town or city in which the outboard motor is registered. The licensing authorities shall then note the informati…

Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall pay a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100).

(a) Whoever removes, defaces, alters, changes, destroys, obliterates, or mutilates, or causes to be removed or destroyed or in any way defaced, altered, changed, obliterated, or mutilated, the identification number of the manufacturer of a motor or engine designed for use in or o…

(a) It is declared to be the policy and intent of the general assembly and the purpose of this chapter: (1) To provide maximum safety from the dangers of navigation for vessels entering or leaving the waters of this state; (2) To maintain a state pilotage system devoted to the pr…

(a) The commission shall conduct the examination of applicants for pilot’s licenses, at a time and place as it shall, after due notice, direct. It shall examine the applicants with relation to their qualifications for the office of pilot. Each applicant shall be examined in parti…

If the commission, after a public hearing duly called, deems that the number of licensed pilots is sufficient to meet the demands of commerce in the waters of this state, it shall place the names of the subsequent applicants on file for future examination and licensing in the ord…

Any license issued under this chapter shall run for a period of five (5) years from the date of issue thereof unless otherwise terminated, revoked, or suspended. Licenses may be renewed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the commission’s rules and regulations.

Every application for a license to act as a pilot in the waters of this state shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars ($100) payable to the State of Rhode Island. Every pilot who shall request a renewal of his or her license shall pay to the State of Rhode Island a f…

A person holding a Massachusetts pilot’s license for the port of Fall River may, upon application to the commission and payment of a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to the State of Rhode Island and satisfactorily passing an examination given by the commission under this chapter cov…

Any person holding a pilot’s license which was valid on May 26, 1981, shall be deemed to be licensed under the provisions of this chapter.

No person shall receive a license or exercise the office of pilot until he or she has given to the general treasurer of the State of Rhode Island a bond with two (2) sureties to be approved by the commission, or a surety bond of a surety company authorized to transact business in…

The master, owner, agent, or consignee entering or clearing a vessel at any port in this state shall be jointly and severally liable for pilotage fees at the rates prescribed by the rules and regulations of the commission.

Every licensed pilot shall have a lien for his or her pilotage fees, for the period of one year, upon the hull and appurtenances of any vessel liable to him or her therefore.

No master, agent, owner, or consignee shall charge a commission or receive any payment, directly or indirectly, for the assignment of pilotage, nor shall any pilot pay or offer to pay to any person any commission for the assignment of pilotage.

(a) Every foreign vessel, regardless of gross tonnage or draft, and every American vessel under register, regardless of gross tonnage or draft, and every other vessel not exempted by § 46-9-3, or the laws of the United States, entering or departing from any port of the state or t…

(a) Once every month every pilot or his or her agent shall render to the commission an accurate account of all vessels subject to this chapter piloted by him or her, and of all money received by him or her for pilotage of those vessels, and shall pay to the State of Rhode Island …

The master, owner, or operator of every vessel subject to this chapter shall make available to the local agent on the vessel’s arrival, pilotage fees as part of the vessel’s port performance payments for expeditious disbursement to the attending pilots. The payment of the pilotag…

The commission may suspend any pilot for any period that it may deem proper, and may revoke and annul any pilot’s license which shall be issued under this chapter, upon satisfactory proof that: (1) The pilot has willfully disobeyed or violated the provisions of this chapter or an…

The commission may suspend any pilot’s license for a period of not to exceed three (3) months upon satisfactory proof that: (1) The pilot took charge of a vessel drawing more water than his or her license authorized; or (2) The pilot has been guilty of any misconduct or neglect o…

(a) Any pilot who operates a vessel within the waters of this state shall be deemed to have given his or her consent to a chemical test of his or her breath, blood, and/or urine for the purpose of determining the chemical content of his or her body fluids or breath, provided that…

Whenever there is a contested case concerning the granting, denial, revocation, or other action concerning a pilot’s license, the commission shall provide the pilot with notice and an opportunity to be heard, and shall, in this respect, and all others concerning the contested cas…

Any pilot whose license has been suspended may, following the expiration of the period of his or her suspension, be eligible for the reinstatement of his or her license; subject to any conditions that may be imposed by the commission in accordance with this chapter and subject to…