Confusion in the Harbor: Compulsory Pilots Collide with the Motorship FSIA

The purpose of this article is neither to exhaustively review the legis- lative history of the Act,7 nor to comment on the various amendments draw criticism and corrections which have been put forth. Instead, this article focuses on one small problem contained in one discrete section of the Act. The provision which forms the basis of this article is § 1605(b),s and the prob- lem that will be discussed is the rule announced in that section which prohibits the arrest of a vessel owned by a foreign sovereign. Because much has been written about the arrest provisions of the FSIA,9 this article will approach the section from a perspective not previously dis- cussed: torts committed while the vessel is under the command of a compulsory pilot.