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) › § 361m - Disciplinary action

(a) Any act of improper conduct, neglect of duty, negligence or incompetence, any voluntary or premeditated violation of any act or regulation, including federal or local marine traffic laws to be complied with by local pilots or apprentice pilots, or any failure to exercise reasonable and prudent caution that is expected of a pilot or an apprentice pilot under the same or similar circumstances, shall bring about disciplinary action. Some acts or omissions incurred by pilots or apprentice pilots that bring about disciplinary action, include, but are not limited to:
(1) Failure to take precautions or make adjustments or concessions for foreseeable effects of winds, currents and tides.
(2) Failure to obtain or adequately use information available to the pilot.
(3) Failure to navigate with care when visibility is limited.
(4) Navigate in channels where the depth is less than that prescribed and recommended by pilots and approved by the Commission, as the minimum space that must exist between the keel and the seabed.
(5) Excess[ive] speed.
(6) Allowing the harbor pilot license or certificate to be revoked, suspended, restricted, placed on probation, or, otherwise allow that any action be taken upon it, including, but without limitation, the abandonment or deposit thereof while awaiting the filing of charges or criminal action by the regulating authority of another state, the federal government, Puerto Rico, or other country, of an act that would be grounds for disciplinary action if it occurred while pilotage under the authority of the harbor pilotage license or apprentice pilot certificate.
(7) To prepare, complete, or incite another person to prepare or complete a report that the pilot knows is false, or willfully or negligently fail to file, or willfully prevent or obstruct the filing of reports, or noting or writing in the records as required by the laws of Puerto Rico or by the rules of the Commission. Only those reports or annotations that have been signed by the pilot in his/her capacity as apprentice pilot or harbor pilot shall be considered.
(8) Suffer some physical or mental disability that will prevent him/her [from performing] with the needed skill and safety, and with the duties and obligations as a pilot, whether due to illness or the abuse of alcohol, drugs, narcotics or substances of any other type, or caused by some physical or mental condition such as, but without being limited to, the loss or limitation of sight or hearing, coronary aliments or diabetes. In order to enforce this provision, the Commission shall have the authority to compel a pilot or apprentice pilot to submit to a physical and a mental examination by a physician and a psychiatrist accepted by the Commission, as well as in those cases in which there is a reasonable suspicion that the pilot is incurring any of the [acts] prohibited by this subsection. The refusal of a pilot or apprentice pilot to submit to such examination, when ordered to do so, shall constitute an admission of the allegations against him/her unless the refusal is due to circumstances beyond his/her control; as a result of which the Commission may issue an emergency order, suspending the pilot license or apprentice pilot certificate pending compliance with the order to submit to the physical, or mental examination, or both. The pilot or apprentice pilot affected by this provision shall be allowed a reasonable opportunity, at reasonable intervals of time, to show that he/she can resume pilotage competently and with reasonable safety, skill and ability.
(9) Practice or offer to practice beyond the extent allowed by law, or accept and perform those professional responsibilities which the pilot recognizes or has reason to know that he/she does not have sufficient skill to execute.
(10) Delegate professional responsibilities on another person when the pilot knows or has reason to know that the person on whom he/she delegates is not qualified, for lack of training, experience, or a license, to perform the functions of a pilot.
(11) Make a commitment to do something that does not meet the acceptable pilotage standards.
(12) Fail to keep a valid, unlimited and first class pilotage license issued by the United States Coast Guard in effect, for the waters of the port to which the pilot is assigned.
(13) Fail to comply with the obligation to [report] any incidents according to § 361 l of this title.
(14) Violate any provision of any regulations adopted and promulgated by the Commission.
(b) When the Commission determines that a pilot or apprentice pilot committed any of the acts indicated in subsection (a) of this section, upon notice to the said pilot, giving him/her the opportunity to be heard. The Committee shall issue an order imposing one or more of the following penalties:
(1) Refuse to certify an application for a license or certificate.
(2) Revoke or suspend the license or certificate.
(3) Restrict the pilot’s practice.
(4) Impose an administrative fine that shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each separate charge or offense.
(5) Admonish the pilot or apprentice pilot in writing.
(6) Place the pilot or apprentice pilot on probation for a period of time subject to the conditions established by the Commission, including, but not limited to a requirement for the pilot to submit to treatment, a complete physical and psychiatric examination, additional training or a reexamination.
In the event that the Commission should impose any of the above sanctions, the pilot may appear before the Commission itself, through a bill of review, within the next ten (10) working days from the receipt of the Commission’s notice of the sanction. If the penalty imposed is sustained, the pilot may appear before the competent Circuit Court of Appeals within ten (10) working days following the receipt of the notice of the Committee’s decision. The Commission shall serve its decisions on the interested parties through certified mail. The Court of First Instance shall summon the parties to a hearing in a period not greater than thirty (30) calendar days from the filing of the suit.
(c) The Commission shall not reinstate the license or certificate for the pilot or apprentice pilot or issue a license or certificate to a person who has been previously disqualified through a final order of the Commission until the Commission is satisfied that said person meets all the terms and conditions of said order and that said person is qualified to continue to practice pilotage or through an order of a competent court to such ends.
(d) It shall be understood that the pilot or apprentice pilot acts under the authority conferred by the local license or certificate while piloting a foreign vessel or a United States vessel trading with a foreign country, whether it be guiding it in or out of the port or moving it from one dock to another within the port. In rendering said service, the pilot or apprentice pilot shall answer to the Commission for his/her actions.
History —Aug. 12, 1999, No. 226, § 16, eff. 30 days after Aug. 12, 1999.