Merchant Shipping Act 1894

Licensing of Pilots by Trinity House.

618 Licensing of pilots by Trinity House within certain limits.

(1) The Trinity House shall continue, after due examination by them or their sub-commissioners, to appoint and license, under their common seal, pilots for the purpose of conducting ships within the following limits or in any area within those limits; namely,—

(i) The London district, consisting of the waters of the Thames and Medway as high as London Bridge and Rochester Bridge respectively, and also the sea and channels leading thereto or therefrom as far as Orfordness to the north, and Dungeness to the south.

(ii) The English Channel district, consisting of the seas between Dungeness and the Isle of Wight.

(iii) The Trinity House outport districts, comprising any pilotage district for the appointment of pilots within which no particular provision is made by any Act of Parliament or charter.

(2) The Trinity House shall not license a pilot to conduct ships both above and below Gravesend.

619 Regulations as to pilots licences.

Subject to any alteration to be made by the Trinity House, the following provisions shall apply to the licensing of pilots by them:—

(i) The names of all pilots licensed by the Trinity House shall be published by them—

(a) by fixing at their house in London a notice specifying the name and usual place of abode of every pilot so licensed, and the limits within which he is licensed to act; and

(b) by transmitting copies of that notice to the Commissioners of Customs in London, and to the chief officers of customs at all ports or places within the limits for which the pilot is licensed ; and those copies shall be posted up at the Custom House in London, and at the custom house at those ports or places.

(ii) Every Trinity House pilot shall, on his appointment, execute a bond for one hundred pounds, conditioned for the due observance on his part of the regulations and byelaws of the Trinity House, and that bond shall be free from stamp duty, and from every other charge except the actual expense of preparing the same.

(iii) A licence granted to a pilot by the Trinity House shall not continue in force beyond the thirty-first day of January next following the date of that licence; but the licence may, upon the application of the pilot holding the same, be renewed on or before the thirty-first day of January in every year, or on any subsequent day, by endorsement under the hand of the secretary of the Trinity House, or such other person as may be appointed by them for that purpose.

620 Pilot's liability limited.

A qualified pilot appointed by the Trinity House who has executed a bond under this Part of this Act shall not be liable for neglect or want of skill beyond the penalty of the bond, and the amount payable to him on account of pilotage in respect of the voyage in which he was engaged when he became so liable.

621 Power to revoke and suspend licences.

The Trinity House may revoke or suspend the licence of any pilot appointed by them, in such manner, and at such time, as they think fit.