Before an applicant is branched or licensed, the commission shall prepare in writing suitable questions to test his or her knowledge and competency to become a bar pilot. The applicant, without any aid from any other person and without having been informed as to what question would be propounded, shall answer the questions. When the applicant has reduced his or her answers to writing, the applicant shall sign the same and deliver them to one of the commissioners, and the commission shall cause the answers to be copied legibly, but without the name of the applicant. The commission shall then appoint three fair, impartial, and competent nautical persons as a committee to examine the answers of the applicant. The applicant or applicants may name one of these, the existing pilots name another, and the commission, or a majority of them, shall name the third. The committee shall examine the copies of the answers of applicants and shall endorse upon the answer of the applicants as the commission finds sufficient the following certificate:

“We hereby certify that the foregoing answers are satisfactory, and that, in our opinion, the applicant making the same is well acquainted with the bar pilot grounds, knows how to handle both steam and sailing vessels, and is competent to perform the duties of a bay or bar pilot.”

When the certificate is duly signed and delivered to the commission, the applicant shall be deemed qualified to receive a license.