Pilot Vessels

Rule text#

(a)A vessel engaged on pilotage duty shall exhibit:

(i)At or near the masthead, two all-round lights in a vertical line, the upper being white and the lower red;

(ii)When underway, in addition, sidelights and a sternlight; and

(iii)When at anchor, in addition to the lights prescribed in paragraph (i) of this Rule, the anchor light, lights, or shape prescribed in Rule 30 (§ 83.30) for vessels at anchor.

(b)A pilot vessel when not engaged on pilotage duty shall exhibit the lights or shapes prescribed for a vessel of her length. [USCG-2012-0102, 79 FR 37912, July 2, 2014, as amended by USCG-2015-0433, 80 FR 44280, July 27, 2015]

Authoritative source#

Source links checked against the current public rule corpus on 2026-05-16.

• 33 CFR §83.29 — the section this text comes from, with its neighbours.
• International COLREGs Rule 29 verbatim text is published by the IMO and is authoritative for international waters.

Practice this rule#

One real exam question on this rule, cited to source. No sign-up.