THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY ERICKSON, PIPPY, RAFFERTY, O'PAKE, COSTA, STACK AND TOMLINSON, APRIL 27, 2010

REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, APRIL 27, 2010  

AN ACT

Amending the act of May 11, 1889 (P.L.188, No.210), entitled "A

further supplement to an act, entitled 'An act to establish a

board of wardens for the Port of Philadelphia, and for the

regulation of pilots and pilotage, and for other purposes,'

approved March twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and

three, and for regulating the rates of pilotage and number of

pilots," further providing for certain charges.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Sections 3.1(b) and (c), 3.2(b) and (c) and 3.3

of the act of May 11, 1889 (P.L.188, No.210), entitled "A

further supplement to an act, entitled 'An act to establish a

board of wardens for the Port of Philadelphia, and for the

regulation of pilots and pilotage, and for other purposes,'

approved March twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and

three, and for regulating the rates of pilotage and number of

pilots," amended June 30, 2007 (P.L.63, No.19), are amended to

read:

Section 3.1.  For services rendered on and after January 1,

1990, retroactively, the rates of pilotage for conducting a

vessel from the Capes of the Delaware to a place on the Delaware

River or Bay no further upriver than the Delair Railroad Bridge

between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Delair, New Jersey, or

from a place on the river Delaware no further upriver than the

Delair Railroad Bridge between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and

Delair, New Jersey, to the Capes of the Delaware, in either

case, shall be computed as follows:

* * *

(b)  The charges per unit shall be as follows:

(c)  There shall be a minimum charge of two hundred units and

a maximum unit charge as follows:

Section 3.2.  That every ship or vessel bound to the Delaware

breakwater for orders shall be obliged to receive a pilot,

provided she is spoken or a pilot offers his services, outside

of a straight line drawn from Cape Henlopen Light to Cape May

Light, and every ship or vessel bound to the breakwater for

orders shall pay pilotage fees as follows: A sum equal to half

the pilotage to the Port of Philadelphia, and she shall be

obliged to take a pilot and pay the same pilotage fees when

outward bound, from the breakwater, and if such ship or vessel,

without discharging her pilot, proceed to the Port of

Philadelphia or any other port or place on the bay or river

Delaware, only one full pilotage fee as fixed by section 3.1 of

this act, for the entire service, in addition to the fee for

detention: Provided, however, That if the pilot bringing such

ship or vessel to the breakwater be there discharged, and the

ship or vessel afterward proceed to Philadelphia or any other

port or place on the bay or river Delaware, she shall make the

usual signal for a pilot and continue to make such signal till

reaching Brandywine Light, and if spoken by, or offered the

services of, a duly licensed Pennsylvania pilot before reaching

Brandywine Light, shall be obliged to employ such pilot and pay

him for services rendered on and after the effective date of

this act, a charge computed as follows:

* * *

(b)  The charges per unit shall be as follows:

(c)  There shall be a minimum charge of two hundred units and

a maximum unit charge as follows:

Section 3.3.  The following charges are hereby authorized for

the services stated:

Vessels entering the Capes for anchorage at the Breakwater for

other than tide shall pay one-half pilotage in and one-half

pilotage out.

Any time a pilot is dispatched for sailing and the trip or

movement is canceled, for reason other than weather, the vessel

shall be subject to this charge, except when the Pilot Office is

notified as follows:

(6)  Finance charge:

A finance charge not to exceed one and one-half per centum

per month or fraction thereof may be assessed against all

invoices outstanding more than thirty days after the billing

date, and the cost of attorney fees on any amount placed with an

attorney for collection may also be charged.

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.