Subtitle 6 – Wharfage and Other Regulations

The Board of Estimates shall have the power, from time to time, to increase, reduce, or eliminate any of the wharfage or dockage rates as herein provided for and may include and change, from time to time, rates for other articles not included in the above-mentioned schedules.

The schedule of the above rates shall be posted in the office of the Harbor Master and a copy thereof filed with the Department of Legislative Reference within 1 week after June 12, 1950, and any changes or additions in said rates which shall be made by the Board of Estimates shall be filed with the Harbor Master and the Department of Legislative Reference on or before the time when such rates shall become effective.

The master of any vessel or other person who violates this section shall pay a fine of $20.

The master of any vessel who refuses to obey the regulations or requirements of the Harbor Master or of the Harbor Engineer, as the case may be, in carrying out this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50 for each and every hour the offense continues.

No vessel shall lie at any of the City wharves for the purpose of retailing any goods, wares, or merchandise, or produce, except the same has been brought into port by said vessel, nor shall any vehicle or booth or structure of any kind, stand on any City wharf for the purpose of retailing fruit or other articles therefrom.

The master of a vessel or any other person violating this section shall pay a penalty of $20, and a further penalty of $5 for every hour the offense continues.

No vessel shall be permitted to lie at any of the City docks or wharves for the purpose of selling fish, either at wholesale or retail, or other seafood, except oysters, therefrom at any time.

The master of any vessel violating this section shall pay a penalty of $20 and a further penalty of $5 for every hour the offense continues.

The Harbor Master shall cause all watermelons and other fruit, fish, vegetables, and refuse to be removed from any wharf whenever they shall become a nuisance.

The owner of any such watermelons or other fruit, fish, or vegetables, shall pay a penalty of $10 for every day the same shall remain after notice to remove the same has been given to the owner by the Harbor Master.

The Harbor Engineer shall cause to be removed, in such time as he may think reasonable, all vessels which may be sunk in the harbor or port of Baltimore.

The owner or owners of such sunken vessels, who refuse or neglect to remove the same when directed to do so by the Harbor Engineer shall pay a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $100 per day for every day the said vessel shall remain after due notice as aforesaid.

Any person who shall cast loose, set adrift or place any object likely to become a nuisance or an obstruction to navigation shall pay a fine not exceeding $200.

Any person violating this section shall pay a fine of not more than $200 and the Harbor Engineer and the Harbor Masters are specially charged with the execution of this section.

Subject to the provisions of §§ 321 to 326 inclusive, of <cite data-doc="City of Baltimore, Md., Charter">the City Charter</cite> (1949 Ed.) <em>{repealed by Chapter 29, Laws of Maryland 1969}</em> and such ordinances as may be ordained by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the Harbor Engineer shall control and manage the iceboats and shall have no power to permit the use of said boats for any other purpose than to aid the commerce and navigation of the port and to keep the harbor and the approaches thereto free from obstruction by ice, in such manner as the Harbor Engineer may deem best.

In all cases of special use of the boats, in the way of relief or otherwise, the Harbor Engineer may make such charges for said use as he may deem proper, and apply the sum received for the same toward the expenses of the boats.

The master of any vessel violating this section shall pay a fine of not exceeding $100 for the 1^st offense and not less than $50 nor more than $200 for each subsequent offense.

The master of any vessel violating this section shall pay a fine of $50.

It shall be the duty of the person having in charge any vessel lying at any of the public wharves or docks to top the yards, rig in the jib-booms, and place the anchor or anchors on the deck of said vessel, whenever required so to do by the Harbor Master or the occupier of any wharf or his agent.

Any person having charge of any vessel who shall neglect or refuse to obey directions as aforesaid shall pay a penalty of $5.

It shall be unlawful for any person to smoke, carry, or have any lighted match, pipe, cigar, or cigarette, or carry or use any portable open light in or upon any wharf, shed, pier, or warehouse on any wharf or pier, or on the deck of any vessel lying at or along side of any wharf or pier or on or near any vessel loading or unloading explosives lying at or along side of any wharf or pier.

Any person violating the provisions of this section or of any other provisions of §§ <cite data-path="|10|§1-1">1-1</cite> through <cite data-path="|10|§6-17">6-17</cite>, inclusive, of <cite data-path="|10">this article</cite>, for which no penalty is prescribed, shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $25.

The Harbor Engineer shall control and maintain all bridges of the City over navigable waters in and adjacent to the City of Baltimore, subject to the provisions of <cite data-path="|26|§14-1">Article 26, § 14-1</cite> of the City Code.

Any person violating any rule of the Harbor Engineer as to the use of a bridge after said rules shall have been posted on said bridge as aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $50 for each offense, said fine to be collected as other fines for violations of City ordinances are collected.

The owner, master or person in charge of any boat, vessel, barge, or water craft in the harbor of Baltimore, and the owner, tenant, or occupant of any land, premises, pier, wharf, or warehouse on or adjacent to the harbor of Baltimore, or his agents, shall not allow to be pumped, discharged, flow into, or in any manner whatsoever escape into the water of the harbor of Baltimore from said boat, vessel, barge, or water craft, or from said land, premises, pier, wharf, or warehouse, or on or upon any pier or wharf in said harbor any bilge water, waste water, or drainage in which there is oil, naptha, benzine, or gasoline.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500, ½ of said fine to go to the informer, or in the discretion of the Court, may be imprisoned in the Baltimore City Jail for 30 days, or may be subjected to both said fine and imprisonment.

The Harbor Engineer, or any assistant designated by him, shall have the authority and power to board and inspect vessels located in the Baltimore Harbor for the purpose of seeing whether the laws and ordinances of the City relative to the discharge of bilge water, oil, or other waste material in the Harbor and the requirements for fire protection and other safety provisions are being complied with.

Any officer, agent, or employee of any vessel interfering with the inspection of vessels for the purposes of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a penalty of not more than $100 for each and every such violation.

Any person who shall obstruct the Harbor Engineer, Harbor Master, and/or their assistants, in the performance of his or their lawful duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of $20 for each and every such offense.

All fines imposed for the violation of any of the provisions of <cite data-path="|10">this article</cite> shall be recovered as other fines imposed by ordinance are recoverable; all of said fines when collected to be paid to the Director of Finance.