Pilot - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition pilot

Definition :

Pilot, a person taken on board at any particular place for the purpose of conducting a ship through a river, road, or channel, or from or into a port, defined in s. 742 of the (English) Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as meaning 'any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.' Pilots are established in various parts of the country, by ancient charters of incorporation or by particular statutes. The most important of these in-corporations are those of the Trinity House, Deptford Stroned; the fellowship of the Pilots of Dover, Deal, and the Isle of Thanet, commonly called the Cinque Port Pilots; and the Trinity Houses of Hull and New castle. For the general law on the subject of pilots and pilotage, see the Pilotage Acts, 1913 (2 & 3 Geo. 5, c. 31) and amending Acts and the Pilotage Authorities (Limitation of Liability) Act, 1936 (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8, c. 36). Consult Digby and Cole on Pilots.

Compulsory Pilots.--By the Act of 1913, s. 15 (reversing the Common Law rule), owners and masters of ships become liable for damage caused by the ship or fault in navigation, in districts where the employment of a pilot is compulsory, even though the pilot was in charge of the ship.

A pilot is refused in the (English) Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, s. 35 (4).

As to pilots by air, see (English) Air Navigation Act, 1920.