(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the rates and charges for pilotage services shall not include the cost of primary marine insurance insuring a pilot, an organization of pilots, or their officers or employees, from liability arising from negligence or errors in judgment in connection with the provision of pilotage service by pilots, organizations of pilots, or their officers or employees. (b) A pilot who holds a state license for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun shall arrange to have available, upon advance written notice, trip insurance, with coverage limits of thirty-six million dollars ($36,000,000), naming as insureds the pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees, and insuring the named insureds against any civil claim, demand, suit, or action by whomsoever asserted, arising out of, or relating to, directly or indirectly, acts or omissions of the insureds in connection with the provision of pilotage service, except willful misconduct. (c) Every vessel, owner, operator, or demise or bareboat charterer hiring a pilot with a state license for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun shall either defend, indemnify, and hold harmless pilots pursuant to paragraph (1), or alternatively, notify pilots of an intent to pay for trip insurance pursuant to paragraph (2). If a vessel or its owner, operator, or demise or bareboat charterer does not provide written notice pursuant to paragraph (2) of an intent to exercise the trip insurance option, then the vessel and its owner, operator, and demise or bareboat charterer will be deemed to have elected the obligation to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless pilots pursuant to paragraph (1). (1) (A) Except for a vessel electing trip insurance pursuant to paragraph (2), a vessel subject to this subdivision, and its owner, operator, demise or bareboat charterer, and agent shall not assert any claim, demand, suit, or action against the pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees, for damages, including any rights over, arising out of, or connected with, directly or indirectly, any damage, loss, or expense sustained by the vessel, its owners, agents, demise or bareboat charterers, operators, or crew, or by any third parties, even if the damage results, in whole, or in part, from any act, omission, or negligence of the pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees. (B) A vessel subject to this paragraph and its owner, operator, and demise or bareboat charterer shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees, with respect to liability arising from any claim, suit, or action, by whomsoever asserted, resulting in whole, or in part, from any act, omission, or negligence of the pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees. The obligation to indemnify under this paragraph shall not apply to the extent that it causes the amount recoverable from a vessel, its owner, operator, or demise or bareboat charterer to exceed the limits of liability to which it is entitled under any bill of lading, charter party, contract of affreightment, or provision of law. (C) The prohibition on claims by vessels, owners, operators, demise or bareboat charterers, and agents imposed by subparagraph (A) and the obligation to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the pilot imposed by subparagraph (B) shall not apply in cases of willful misconduct by a pilot, any organization of pilots to which the pilot belongs, and their officers and employees. (D) A pilot who is the prevailing party shall be awarded attorneyâs fees and costs incurred in any action to enforce a right to indemnification provided pursuant to this subdivision. (2) In lieu of paragraph (1), a vessel subject to this subdivision and its owner
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