Saving for liability of owners and masters.—An owner or master of a ship is not answerable to any person for any loss or damag-e occasioned by the fault or incapacity of any qualified pilot acting in charge of that ship within any district where the employment of a qualified pilot is compulsory by law.
pilot is quatified to act as such only if duly licensed by a pilotage authority. Every pilot on his appointment receives a licence containing his name, abode, a description of his person, and a specification of the limits within which he is qualified to act. The nearest chief officer of customs registers the licence, and until registration a pilot is not entitled to act. If and when acting beyond his limits, a pilot is considered to be unqualified. Since the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, licences can be lawfully granted only to British subjects. Every pilot on receiving his licence is furnished with a copy of part of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and a copy of the rates, bye-laws, and regulations of his district, and these copies he must produce to the master of any ship or other person employing him when required to do so (except with reason able cause) under a penalty of'15. A qualified pilot when acting in that capacity must carry his licence, and produce it to every one employing hitn and to whom he offers his services as a pilot. On his refusal to do so Ile is liable to a fine of X10, and subject to suspension or dismissal by the pilotage authority ; also, when required, he is bound to produce and deliver up his licence to such authority, and on his death the persons into whose hands his licence comes must transmit it to the authority. Any pilot or other person failing to comply with these provisions is liable to a fine of 110. If an unqualified pilot, for the purpose of making himself appear to be qualified, uses a licence which he is not entitled to use, he is liable for each offence to a line of .C50.
Pilotage dues.—The following persons are liable to pay pilotage dues for any ship for which the services of a qualified pilot are obtained, namely ;—(a) The owner or master ; (b) as to pilotage inwards, such consignees or agents as have paid or made themselves liable to pay any other charge on account of the ship in the port of her arrival or discharge ; (c) as to pilotage outwards, such consignees or agents as have paid or made themselves liable to pay any other charge on account of the ship in the port from which she clears out ; and these dues are recoverable in the same manner as fines under the Act, but only after a ,previous demand in writing. A consignee or agent (not being the owner or %aster of the sbip) who is liable for the payment of' pilotage dues in respect of any ship may, out of any monies received by him in respect of that ship or belonging to her owner, retain the amount of all dues he has paid, t.ogether with reasonable ex penses incurred. A pilot must not demand or receive, and a master must not offer to pay to a pilot, any rate greater or less than the lawful one ; and a pilot or master offending in this respect is liable for each offence to a fine of £10. If a boat or ship having on board a pilot leads any ship which has not a qualified pilot on board when the last-mentioned ship cannot from particular circumstances be boarded, the pilot so leading the last-mentioned ship is entitled to the full pilotage rate as if he had been on board and had charge of that ship. Except under
circumstances of unavoidable necessity, a pilot must not, without his consent, be taken to sea or beyond his licensed limits in any ship whatever ; and if he is so taken he will be entitled, over and above his pilotage dues, to the sum of 10s. Gd. a day, the sum so to be paid to be computed from, and inclusive of, the day on which the ship passes the licensed limit, and up to, and inclusive of, either the day of his being returned in the said ship to the place where he was taken on board, or, if he is discharged from the ship at a distance from that place, such day as will allow him sufficient time to return thereto ; and in the last-mentioned case he is entitled to reasonable travelling expenses. The master of a ship on being requested by a pilot having charge of his ship must declare her draught of water. On refusal, or making, or being privy to a false declaration to the pilot in relation thereto, he is liable to a fine not exceeding double the amount of pilotage dues which would have been payable to the pilot. The master, or any other person interested in a ship making, or being privy to the making, of any fraudulent alteration on the stem or stern-post of the ship denoting the draught of water, is liable to a fine of £500. An unqualified pilot within any pilotage district is allowed to take charge of it ship as pilot, without subjecting himself or his employer to any penalty--(a) When no qualified pilot has offered to take charge of that ship, or made a signal for that purpose ; (6) when a ship is in distress, or under circumstances snaking it necessary for the master to avail him self of the best assistance which can be found at the time ; or (c) for the purpose of changing the moorings of any ship in port, or of taking her into or out of any dock, in cases where the act can be done by an unqualified pilot ss about infringing the regulations of the port, or any lawful orders of the harbour-master. A qualified pilot may supersede an unqualified pilot, but the master must pay to the unqualified pilot a proportionate suns for his services, and deduct that sum from the charge of the qualified pilot ; and in case of dispute the pilotage authority determines the sum to which each party is entitled. If an unqualified pilot, whether within a district in which pilotage is compulsory, or outside such district, assumes or continues in charge of a ship after it qualified pilot has offered to take charge of the ship, lie is liable for each offence to a fine of £50. When the master of a ship, ss halter navigating within a district in which pilotage is compulsory, or outside such a district, knottinglj employs or continues to employ an unqualified pilot after a qualified pilot has offered to take charge of the ship, or has made a signal for that purpose, he incurs a penalty of double the amount of the pilotage which could be demanded for the conduct of the ship.