Page:EB1911 - Volume 21.djvu/639

Rh of any district, and the exemption of ships from compulsory pilotage in any district. Where pilotage is not compulsory, and the power of obtaining pilotage licences unrestricted, the board can in the same way give the pilotage authority powers with respect to licences, amount of pilotage rates, and the like. Pilotage authorities may, by by-laws under the act (which require confirmation by order in council), exempt wholly or partly any ships or classes of ships from compulsory pilotage, and regulate the means of obtaining licences, and the amount of pilotage rates, subject to a maximum limit. They must make yearly returns to the Board of Trade of their by-laws, the names, ages and services of their licensed pilots, the rates of pilotage, the amounts received for pilotage and their receipts and expenditure, and if they fail to do so, the board may suspend their authority, which is then exercised by the Trinity House.

The statutes also provide generally for the qualifications of pilots. A “ qualified ” pilot is one duly licensed by a pilotage authority to conduct ships to which he does not belong.

nm' On his appointment he receives a licence, which is registered with the chief officer of customs at the nearest place to the p1lot's residence, and must be delivered up by the pilot v she never required by the licensing pilotage authority. On h1s death this licence must be returned to that authority. By an act of 1906 no pilotage certificate shall be granted to the master or mate of a British ship unless he is a British subject; this does not, however, refer to the renewal of a certificate granted before 1906 to one not a British subject. Pilotage dues are recoverable summarily from the owner, master, or consignees of the ship, after a written demand for them has been made. A pilot may not be taken beyond the limits of his district without his consent, and if so taken he is entitled to a fixed daily sum in addition to the dues; if he cannot board the ship, and leads her from his boat, he is entitled to the same dues as if he were on board, and he must be truly informed of the ship's draught of water. An unqualified pilot may in any pilotage district take charge of a ship without subjecting himself or his employer to any penalty, “here no qualified pilot has offered himself, or where a ship is in distress, or in circumstances where the master must take the best assistance he can, or for the purpose of changing the moorings of any ship in port on docking or unlocking her; but after a qualified pilot has offered himself any unqualified pilot continuing in charge, or any master continuing him in charge of the ship, 1S hable to a penalty. A qualified pilot may not be directly or indirectly interested in licensed premises or in the selling of dutiable goods, or in the unnecessary supply of gear or storcs to a ship for his personal gain or for the gain of any other person He can be punished for quitting a ship before the completion of his duty without the consent of the master, refusing or delay ing to perform his duty without reasonable cause when required by law ful authority, lending his licence, acting as pilot in hen suspended or when intoxicated, and any pilot who through wilful breach of or neglect of duty, or by reason of his drunkenness, endangers ship, life or limb, is guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to suspension or dismissal; but the pilot has an appeal in cases of fines over £2, of suspension or dismissal, suspension or revocation of his licence, or the application of a pilotage fund to which he has contributed. This appeal lies in England to a county court judge having jurisdiction over the port where he is licensed, or a metropolitan police magistrate or stipendiary magistrate mth the like power; in Scotland, to a sheriff; in Ireland, to a county court judge, chairman of quarter sessions, recorder, or magistrate Pilotage certificates may also be granted by pilotage authorities, available within their districts, to masters and mates of ships; and the holder of such a certificate may pilot any ship in respect of which it is available without incurring any penalty for not employing a qualified pilot.

The statute further makes special regulation for Trinity House pilots Every such pilot, on his appointment, must execute a bond for £100 conditioned for due observance of the Trinity House regulations and by-laws, and thereupon he is not liable for neglect or want of skill to anybody beyond the penalty of the bond and the amount payable to him for pilotage on the voyage on which he was engaged at the time of his so becoming liable. The licence may be revoked or suspended by the Trinity House when it thinks fit; it only continues in force for a year, and the Trinity House has absolute discretion whether it shall be renewed or not.

A pilot boat is approved and licensed by the district pilotage authority who appoints or removes the master thereof. In order to be easily recognized, she has printed on her stern in legible white letters the name of her on ner and P'I';€S€'°atf her port, and on her bows the number of her licence, ” 'gna S the remainder of the boat is usually black. The pilot flag is a red and white horizontal flag of a comparatively large size, and is flown from a conspicuous position. When the flag is fiown from a merchant vessel, it indicates that a licensed pilot is on board or that the master or mate holds a certificate entitling him to pilot the ship. By order in council of 1900, on and after the 1st day of January 1901 the signals for a pilot displayed together or separately are: In daytime, there is (1) hoisted at the fore the pilot jack (Union lack having round it a white border, one-fifth of the breadth of the flag); (2) the international code pilotage signal indicated by P.T.; (3) the international code flag S. (white with small blue square centre), with or without the code pennant, (4) the distant signal consisting of a cone point upwards, having above it two balls or shapes resembling balls. By night, (1) the pyrotechnic light commonly known as a blue light, every fifteen seconds; (2) a bright white light, flashed or shown at short or frequent intervals just above the bulwarks, for about a minute at a time.

Pilotage in British waters may be either compulsory or free for all or certain classes of ships. From parliamentary pilotage returns, it appears that it is compulsory in about 64 districts of the United Kingdom (of which two- f, ';, '::;”f°"~" thirds are the Trinity House districts), free in 32, free g and compulsory in 8, while in 3 cases (Berwick, Dingwall and Coleraine) no particulars are given. British war-ships in British waters are not compelled to employ apilot, the navigating officer becoming the pilot under the direction of the captain. If a pilot be employed, the captain and navigating officer are not relieved from responsibility. They supervise the pilot, and should, if necessary, remove him from the ship. In the majority of foreign ports British war-ships are exempted from employing pilots, but the Suez Canal and the ports of France are exceptions. The Merchant Shipping Act ISQ4 continues the compulsory employment of pilots in all districts where it was already compulsory, and also the already existing exemptions; and there is no power in any pilotage authority or the Boaid of Trade to increase the area of compulsory pilotage, though there is to diminish it. Compulsion is enforced by a provision in the act, that within a district where compulsory pilotage exists, the master of an unexempted ship who pilots her himself without holding the necessary certificate, after a qualified pilot has offered or signalled to take charge of the ship, shall be liable for each offence to a fine of double the amount of the pilotage dues demand able for the conduct of the ship. The exemptions from compulsory pilotage still existing in British territorial waters are as follows: Ships or vessels with British registers trading to Norway or the Cattegat or the Baltic (except vessels on voyages between any port in Sweden or Norway and the port of London), or round the North Cape, or into the White Sea on their inward or outward voyages, whether coming up by North or South Channels; any constant British traders inwards from ports between Boulogne inclusive and the Baltic coming up by North Channel, and any British ships or vessels trading to ports between the same limits on their outward passages and when coming up by the South Channels; Irish traders using the navigation of the Thames and Medway, ships engaged in the regular coasting trade of the kingdom; ships or vessels wholly laden with stone produce din the Channellslands and Isle of Man and brought thence; ships or vessels not exceeding 60 tons, whether British or belonging to a foreign country specified by order in council; ships within the limits of the port or place to which they belong, if