EU attack on the Jones Act?

Professional Mariner Forum
1

Are “The usual suspect” involved?

So what else is new?:

Maybe EU will have to retaliate with a ban on US-flag vessels involved in the offshore oil & gas and OWF activity in their own waters?
Oh shit, too late, That would have been effective in the 1960-90s when there were plenty of US-flag vessels, with US crews in activity in the North Sea and other EU waters.
Not many left now. Is that because they are banned? No there are lots of foreign flagged and foreign owned vessels with foreign crews operating there.
No special ban on US-flagged vessel.

PS> Many US companies operate vessel there, both FOC- and EU-registered.

1 Like
2

Bug old boy don’t try to distort the message into some “turn around is fair play” thing.

The reason for heavy US involvement in North Sea activity in the 60s and later was because they were invited. Europe needed the manpower, the experience, and the technology to develop the oil fields that contributed so much to their economies.

American anti Jones Act scumbags using EU politicians and media as tools to undermine key American maritime law and policy is downright treasonous. Whataboutism is a low rent way to participate in that scam and you should be ashamed to use it here.

7 Likes
3

That is correct. Now the US need the same to develop OWFs off their coast.
So, minus the invitation, the situation is the same, but in reverse.
Nothing to be ashamed of, one way or the other.

Free markets for goods and services is what the US has been preaching to others since WWII. Living up to that when the shoe is on the other foot may not be so easy?

3 Likes
4

The US has long been a “maritime banana republic” that gave away its fishing in Alaska to Norwegian owned, financed and “rebuilt” US flag factory trawlers with Norwegian crew in most of the key big money positions.

To a much lesser extent the Japanese, played a similar game, but they mostly focused on shore plants and catcher boats.

US fisherman suddenly found themselves competing with big industrial scale foreign fishing backed by huge and very generous foreign government loans.

Foreign , especially Norwegian, fishing got away with it too!

So it’s no surprise that Northern European interests are doing the same thing all over again in US offshore wind.

This time US politicians and bureaucrats need to wake up and smarten up to put America First.

2 Likes
5

Oh yes the story of modern factory trawlers fishing pollocks and producing “surami” for the Japanese market in the 1980s, using Norwegian and Japanese technology and expertise. It became a bonanza and is still bringing in good income for the US citizens that now work in and run the show.

PS> One of the best known name from that adventure is probably Kjell Inge Røkke who proved that “the American dream” was still alive and well at that time.

He is a dyslectic school dropout born in Molde, Norway in 1958, who never finished Secondary School.
At 18 he got a job as a Greaser on Factory trawler in Norway, but moved to PNWUS in 1979 and got a job as cook on local fishing boat.

He later moved onto bigger trawlers and became Deck foreman on one of the first Norwegian-American owned Factory Trawlers in the US. He gained the nickname “The Norwegian Cowboy” for his dear devil exploits, (like running out on an overfilled trawl net, cutting it open with a knife to lighten the load)

For some reason he appeared to have thrived in the US and soon managed to save enough money and get investors to back him in purchasing a 69-foot (21 m) trawler in 1982.
Things did not go so well with Røkke’s first fishing boat, nor with the next two. With the help of businessman Robert Breskovich in Seattle, Røkke got back on track, and together they invested in the trawler “Golden Alaska”.

Gradually, there were more boats, and Røkke established the fishing company American Seafoods Company in Seattle, which fished for pollocks off Alaska. Over a period of 6–7 years until the early 1990s, Røkke made a fortune from fishing off Alaska, and when he returned to Norway he had a fortune of 2 billion kroner. [[ 13 ]]
In 1994, Røkke merged his companies into the Norwegian-American group Resource Group International, Inc. (RGI) located in Seattle.

In 1996 he moved back to Norway. Same year RGI bought shares in Aker and became the largest shareholder and later merged Aker and RGI to Aker RGI ASA
(Kjell Inge Røkke – Wikipedia)

The rest is a well known story, until he today is a multi-billionaire, with interest in several industries (Fishing krill in the Southern Ocean is one of them)

PS> He recently move to Switzerland to avoid Norwegian wealth tax.

Much the same way as US technology, expertise and knowhow of offshore oil drilling and production was transferred to Norway and other countries around the globe.

Today Norway, EU countries and several other have gained expertise in the Offshore Oil & Gas and OWF industries, which they offer worldwide, incl. to USA.

It is called a natural evolution. USA has exploited their position as a world leader in several technology, business and science the last 80 years.
Nothing wrong with that, Now others are ready to compete at the top table.

1 Like
6

Tl;dr.

7

Sorry, I didn’t find a meme that covered the subject to make it easier for you.
PS> I believe you are not alone in not reading long briefs or posts. :cowboy_hat_face:

1 Like
8

Sorry Bug, but I have to disagree. Voyages between US Ports and in US waters should rightly be reserved for US citizens and ships. After all … it’s America not Norway.

I’m not sure you’d want the Alesund-Hareid ferry owned by the Chinese and Filipino crewed paying no Norge taxes.

Same theory applies to airlines flying domestically in USA. And delivery trucks. Nobody in US is okay with trucks registered in Nicaragua and driven by foreigners paying no US taxes setting up to operate between two US cities.

All of the „problem“ is just a sponsored race to the bottom so all the money can be skimmed off at the top.

1 Like
9

Dear Dr. Bugge. :slight_smile:

Have noticed since quite a long time , some here have a very short attention span or may be limited RAM.

Some may be are too lazy or impatient to scroll a few more lines or can not find the scroll button.

If U can not pack and zip it in 180 characters (twits X style) some will not get it and go into OVERLOAD mode.

Anyway thx for a nice and informative story.
Cheers

10

That is certainly true. USA is “an island onto itself”, with the Jones Act to keep pesky foreigners away it’s coastal trade since 1920. Now also including activity within the EEZ claimed per UNCLOS. (Which US has not ratified).

Norway is not in that enviable position. No Cabotage Law to ban foreign flag ships from coastal trade, or shipping activity within it’s EEZ. (Fishery, mining & oil exploration exempt per UNCLOS)
PS> Until recently NIS registered ships were banned from coastal trade and offshore activities.

Although not an EU member, but associated through EEA, Norway has to comply with many EU rules. This applies to bidding on public tenders, incl. ferry route concessions, which is open to qualified bidders from all EEA countries.

The Ålesund - Hareide fast ferry route is presently run by Boreal Norge AS, which is owned by Vauban Infrastructure Partners, a leading infrastructure manager headquartered in France, who owns 100 percent of the shares in Boreal Holding AS, which owns 100 percent of the shares in Boreal Norge AS
Source: Konsernstruktur - Boreal

I am not familiar with the crewing in Boreal, but probably mostly Norwegians, since crew on ships carrying pax within Norway has to be able to communicate in Norwegian by NMA rules.

Pay and conditions are per collective bargaining between relevant Seafarer Unions and Employers Organization, regardless of nationality and residency, as is taxes and benefits.

11

To be clear, the U.S. does not need manpower, nor experience, but we are short a few installation vessels. The notion that offshore wind is somehow special (from a maritime operations perspective) drives me nuts.

12

Bug,

Therein lies the rub. Norway with EEA is similar to the United States in the way it operates commercially. So EU companies can operate there with EU citizen employees or even those allowed by visa. Companies in any US state can operate in other states with minor paperwork and inhabitants can work in any state

You see the efforts to bust Jones Act do not want US labor, regulations and taxation.

Just the ability to „compete“ in the US market without those pesky annoyances that domestic operators must deal with.

Hence it is in other words, „skim the cream for the top dogs and leave the backwash for American labor“

Nothing you have stated indicates otherwise.

2 Likes
13

Sorry if I helped to drive you nuts. It was not intentional. :innocent:

I presume you have some experience from offshore wind marine operations, since you are so sure it is no different from other offshore operations?
Besides, it is not only mariners that is involved in installation and maintenance of wind turbines.

European mariners, especially fishermen, had long experience in handling large boats (incl. heavy gear) in the North Sea and beyond, before the oil & gas industry came to the area. They did not need anybody to teach them boat handling.

The Dutch had a lot of towing experience. They built the first OSV of European design, since the OSVs from GoM had proven totally unsuited for North Sea operations.

It didn’t take long before more suitable OSVs, MODUs and production platforms were designed and built locally. Outside drilling and production expertise took a bit longer to replace than marine expertise.

14

Not at all, I enjoy your posts. Yes, I have been involved since the beginning here in the U.S. and previously oil and gas. All of the pieces of offshore wind exist in other applications in the U.S., including onshore wind, which is fairly well established, although not on the scale of other countries. Nothing against any of the European personnel, I work with many great folks, I just maintain it’s not necessary to fly in a “special expert” to torque the lugs on an interconnect cable, and touch up the paint on the monopile. (Thats a real thing) I also think European companies think they need far more people than they do- no idea why, but possibly not being accustomed to the high labor costs in the U.S.

1 Like
15

(Moved by author)

16

Norway is an independent Kingdom, founding member of UN, NATO and IMO.
Which US State (or German “Lander”) can claim the same?
Yes Norway is a member of EFTA, which has and agreement with the European Economic Area ( EEA ). Norway is also part of the Schengen Agreement allowing free movement between 29 European countries, but not of EU.

PS> The largest ferry company in Norway, FJORD1 have foreign Owners:
Our owners- Fjord1.
As has Hurtigruten: https://gcaptain.com/hurtigruten-charts-course-for-growth-under-new-ownership/

17

Come on. Enough with the history lesson. Bottom line is if you are operating in EU you employ on local conditions with related taxes and regs.

So if Americans don’t want Nicaraguan school bus drivers working on POEA style contracts not subject to any regulations running untaxed routes on Cook Island registered busses maintained in China, who is to say ships on coastal routes are different?