(a) No license shall be granted to any person to act as a pilot of the sixth class in the Delaware Bay and River unless the person has reached the age of 21 years and has served a regular apprenticeship as hereafter described, nor shall any pilot be entitled to the grant of a license as a pilot of a higher class unless the person shall first have served for at least one year as a licensed pilot in each lower class of license. To be granted a license of the first class, a pilot must have served at least one year as a sixth, fifth, fourth, third and second class pilot.

(b) According to the needs and dictates of commerce, the public interest and public safety, the Navigation Commission shall from time to time solicit applications for and make appointments of apprentice pilots. No person shall be appointed to be an apprentice who does not hold a baccalaureate degree from a recognized and duly certified college or university or a maritime academy operated by the United States or another state, or a United States Coast Guard-issued license to serve as third mate on all oceans aboard vessels of one thousand six hundred tons, or a higher class of license. The period of apprenticeship shall be four years, except for apprentices who, at the time of their appointment, hold a license issued by the United States Coast Guard to serve as third mate on all oceans aboard vessels of at least one thousand six hundred tons, whose apprenticeship need be no longer than three years. During the apprenticeship, all apprentices must make a total of at least five hundred trips over the route in vessels with pilots licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the State of Delaware who have experience in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Navigation Commission, and it shall be the duty of every pilot who shall so bring up or take down an apprentice to maintain a record of the trip as directed by the Navigation Commission.

(c) No license shall be granted until the person applying shall have given bond, with one sufficient surety, to the Navigation Commission in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars nor less than three hundred dollars conditioned for the true and faithful performance of the duties and service required by this act and that the person shall not aid or assist in defrauding the revenue of the United States and that the person will deliver up the license when required by the Navigation Commission in pursuance of the provisions of this act.

(d) The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply to all apprentices appointed in May 1989 and thereafter. Should any apprentice appointed in May 1989 or thereafter hold a license as a pilot of the fourth or higher class without first having served for one year as a sixth-class pilot and one year as a fifth-class pilot, the person shall surrender the license and be issued a license of the appropriate class based on the pilot's experience and time of service as soon as possible following the effective date of this act.