WORTH TWP — More than five dozen empty beer containers and dozens more unopened cans and bottles were found on a pontoon boat stopped in May on Lake Arthur for a boating violation, authorities said.

A Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officer later arrested the man behind the throttle control for drunken boating.

On Wednesday, Nathan P. Johnston, 22, of Allison Park, Allegheny County, was charged with boating under the influence.

The BUI suspect is now facing the same laws — and penalties — as do motorists.

The state conservation officer was on boat patrol about 7 p.m. May 28 when he spotted someone standing at the stern of Johnston’s pontoon boat outside of the passenger-carrying area, according to court documents.

Since the boat was moving at the time, the operator was in violation of state boating regulations.

Officer Jonathan Kay stopped the watercraft and soon suspected Johnston was intoxicated. He also noticed an open beer can in a cup holder on the deck.

Additionally, Kay counted 71 empty and 35 unopened beer containers in the boat, as well as an opened bottle of vodka.

Johnston admitted having “three or four beers” during the day, documents said. He was taken ashore and arrested after given a preliminary breath test.

The suspect later was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for a blood test. Lab tests subsequently showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.114 percent.

If Johnston didn’t know it then, he does now — boating under the influence is no different from driving a car.

The 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content limit for boaters is the same as with motorists. Additionally, a BUI conviction carries the same penalties and jail time as a DUI charge.

Unlike some other states, however, Pennsylvania does not suspend the driver’s license of people convicted of drunken boating.

Along with BUI, Johnston was cited for the initial boating infraction, as well as consuming and possessing beer at a state park.

In Pennsylvania, alcoholic beverages are prohibited at all state parks.