§1076. Pilotage fees; exceptions

A. The Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of Lake Charles shall be entitled to and receive a fee for their pilotage services.

B. The fees for pilotage services shall be established in accordance with R.S. 34:1121 et seq.

C. The river port pilots shall also be entitled to enter into agreements with the masters, owners, or their agents, of ships and vessels, not otherwise subject to compulsory pilotage as provided by these statutes, for special services, boats, equipment, transportations, and other necessary fees at such rates and for such sums as may be agreed between them.

D. All vessels shall employ a pilot when navigating the operating territory described in this Part except those vessels exempted by the laws of the United States or vessels of one hundred gross tons or less, lawfully engaged in coastwise trade.

E. In case of refusal to take a pilot as required, the master, owner, agent, or consignee of any vessel required to employ a pilot shall pay the established pilot fee as if a pilot had been employed.

F. The pilot shall have a lien and privilege upon any vessel employing a pilot for the nonpayment of pilotage fees and charges and for all reasonable attorney fees incurred in connection with the recovery of pilotage fees and charges and enforcement of the lien. The lien and privilege may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.

G. The pilots shall be entitled to and receive from every vessel subject to pilotage entering or leaving ports an additional pilotage fee for every day she may be detained at a quarantine station, provided that the pilots are detained on board the vessel. Pilotage fees and all reasonable attorney fees incurred in connection with the recovery of the pilotage fees and enforcement of a lien shall bear as a lien and privilege upon the vessel. The lien and privilege may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.

H. The provisions of this Section do not apply to the pilotage of vessels or ships for entrance of and upon the Mississippi River, or any other waterway connecting the port of New Orleans or any other port on the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico.

Amended by Acts 1952, No. 36, §1; Acts 1968, No. 64, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; Acts 2004, No. 902, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.