2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART II - Economic Development (§§ 231-241 — 695i) › Chapter 26 - Puerto Rico Harbor Pilot Commission (§§ 361 — 361v) › § 361l - Training; financing

(a) Licensed harbor pilots in Puerto Rico in each port shall submit to the Commission for approval, a training program for apprentice and probationary pilots of at least two (2) years duration, which apply to all apprentice pilots appointed to serve in each port. The following requirements constitute the parameters by which the apprentice and probationary pilot training programs shall be established and executed by licensed harbor pilots in all the ports of Puerto Rico:
(1) Upon receiving an appointment, an apprentice pilot shall report to the licensed harbor pilot of Puerto Rico at the port to which he/she was assigned to serve, for a period of not less than ninety (90) days, as an apprentice observer. During said period:
(A) The apprentice shall accompany the licensed harbor pilots on the waters of Puerto Rico, and thus become familiarized with all types of waters, channels and ports under diverse conditions.
(B) The apprentice shall obtain a valid unlimited United States Coast Guard first class harbor pilot license that covers all waters of the port to which he/she will be assigned before the Commission authorizes him/her to pilot vessels within the limits and conditions established by the licensed harbor pilots in charge of the training.
(2) Upon completing the period as apprentice observer, the apprentice pilot shall submit a vessel steering sheet for apprentice pilots for each movement or vessel in which he/she accompanied a licensed Puerto Rican harbor pilot. Each of the sheets must be signed by the pilot in charge who shall accompany the apprentice pilot, and shall contain at least:
(A) The ship registration, measurement, gross tonnage, and design.
(B) The geographic area or port in which the vessel was piloted.
(C) Climate and marine conditions found.
(D) Hour of the day.
(E) Any maritime incident that must be [reported] pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.
(F) The comments of the pilot in charge, provided that the apprentice pilot under his supervision was in command of the vessel to direct its navigation.
(3) Each application to increase the limits and conditions under which an apprentice pilot will be authorized to pilot shall be submitted to the Commission for its approval. It must be accompanied by the evaluation and the vessel steering sheet required under clause (2) of this subsection, for apprentice or probationary pilots, for each vessel that the apprentice pilot has piloted since the last time that his/her limits and conditions were increased by the Commission.
(4) To satisfactorily complete the training program, the pilotage limits and conditions for the apprentice pilot will be gradually increased until he/she is authorized by the Commission to pilot vessels with a maximum draft of three feet less than the normal allowable draft in the port at which the apprentice pilot shall be authorized to pilot, as proposed by the licensed pilots of Puerto Rico in that port and approved by the Commission.
(5) The apprentice and probationary pilot training program shall be defrayed by the operating trust during the first six (6) months after the approval of this act. Subsequently, it shall be defrayed by the Puerto Rico Pilotage Commission.
History —Aug. 12, 1999, No. 226, § 15, eff. 30 days after Aug. 12, 1999.