An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Pilotage Requirements for Passenger Ferry Service between Maine and Nova Scotia

Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §87-A, sub-§1, ¶D-1  is enacted to read:

Sec. 2. P&SL 1981, c. 98, §5, sub-§2, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 2011, c. 498, §2, is further amended to read:

This section does not apply to vessels under enrollment, fishing vessels or vessels powered by sail. This section does not apply to United States flagged vessels primarily engaged in the carriage of passengers for hire that operate on a published annual schedule and that are not in excess of 500 feet in overall length and have a draft not in excess of 20 feet, as long as the master of any such vessel has navigated that specific vessel on the waters described in this section with the assistance of a pilot for a minimum of 15 round trips of ingress and egress to the waters described in this section. This section does not apply to foreign flagged vessels primarily engaged in the carriage of passengers for hire that operate on a published annual schedule and that are not in excess of 500 feet in overall length and have a draft not in excess of 20 feet, as long as the master of any such vessel has navigated that specific vessel on the waters described in this section with the assistance of a pilot for a minimum number of round trips of ingress and egress to the waters described under this section as established by the Board of Harbor Commissioners through rulemaking. A pilot must pilot a vessel as described in this paragraph upon the waters described in this section at least one round trip during each calendar month that the vessel operates upon the waters described in this section and at such other times as may be required by the Board of Harbor Commissioners to ensure port safety after hearing and notice.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the pilotage requirements for vessels providing regularly scheduled passenger ferry service between Bar Harbor, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.