nobody ever said it was “salvation” or an “answer to all ills” for the US maritime industry but it is a critical component to ensure that there still is such an industry employing US shipyards and US mariners. without Cabotage protections, all coastwise vessels would be built in foreign yards and manned by foreign nationals ripping the guts out of maintaining ANY US citizen labor base to the industry.
How does the Jones Act help getting more US-flagged Container ships in international trade to carry goods to/from US ports? (As mentioned in another thread)
it doesn’t protect it in any way…if the US Congress wanted any such fostering of US ships to carry US import or export commerce then NEW enacting legislation would need to be passed
Does the Jones Act have anything to do with transport of Crude Oil, LNG or any other commodities being exported from USA?
(As “demanded” umpteen times in various threads)
again, no protection although with the lifting of the ban it would have not been difficult to insert language with might have imposed a steep export tax on crude (or refined products) shipped out of US ports on non US flagged vessels
Does the Jones Act help getting US Mariners jobs on the CSV and other high-end vessels working in the GoM and beyond?
(As insisted in numerous posts in various threads and by several distinguished members)
the Jones Act only protects cargo moved off a dock in the US going out to an installation working on the OCS thus are all supply and crewboats US flagged and built. Drilling, subsea, accommodation, seismic and other support vessels are not required to be US flagged or built however the OCSLA says they are supposed to be US manned if under effective control of a US corporation. It is the determination of who is in control that the loophole exists to allow foreign nationals to man all these vessels and I have screamed that the loophole be closed however the USCG is deaf to my howling and thus why it is going to require a group with some political muscle to make this happen however who is that group and how do we get them to do the heavy lifting?
Where are the ships to fill all these requirement? They are available on the open international market and for sale.
of course they are and there are no modern US built vessels available thus why I have called for case by case waivers on the US build requirements for new coastwise services provided that a US build vessel is to be contracted to replace any foreign vessel after the first five years of any waiver
Many of the ships under FOC registers are owned by US companies and operated from the US. If the conditions were put in place they could be re-registered to an “open” US register, manned by American Officers, but with foreign unlicensed crew allowed.
I personally do not want to throw our unlicensed brothers under a bus just to help out a corporation to make more money…it must be ALL mariners since a huge surge sealift requires both American officers and seamen and it is that huge surge sealift of DoD material why we need a US fleet with US mariners in the first place. history has proven time and again that is the TRUE underlying reason why this Nation MUST have a US merchant marine
That would require changes to US tax laws etc. to get in line with other OECD countries with open registers, however:
But most of all it would require a change of mindset among US Mariners, from protectionism to competition on a “level playing field”. (Isn’t that what America is all about?)
don’t use the tired talking points of a certain political party in the US to describe our Nation’s fundamental principals. a Nation which gives away all protections to its industrial base in order to give corporations freedom to earn maximum profits is a Nation who will end up having NO industrial base in the end.
The Jones Act should be modified to be just a “Cabotage Law” by lifting the requirement to build vessels at US yards.
of course, allow some foreign built vessels in but do not gut that part of the law entirely…the US needs shipyards just as much as it needs ships and mariners
The requirement for US crews in domestic trade (+ protecting Mariner’s rights until US adopt MLC) could be maintained, however.
This would enable US Owners to buy or build ships from abroad, even for the domestic fleet. It could also enable the development of an efficient “Short sea fleet” to replace the barges now used and possibly compete with road and rail transport on certain segments. The same vessels could carry out both domestic trade and compete with foreign ships in the Caribbean trade, not just to PR and VI.
again, there is no good reason that any US Administration and Congress could not formulate a new Merchant Marine Act of say 2020 to modify the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) which will bring the US industry into this century but that requires leadership and political will to make it happen. presently there is NO, ZERO, ZILCH, NONE, NADA, ZIP, GOOSE EGG, GIANT GAPING HOLE leadership in this country for any such reforms to be formulated and passed into law
This is not really a Jones Act issue, but come under the same category, somehow:
If US Owners were able to buy foreign vessels and re-flag them to US regular register, they may be able to compete for some of the jobs now performed by the many foreign vessels with foreign crews now in use in the GoM. These vessels would be manned by all US crews, creating lots of jobs, once the market turns.
are you only talking about the GoM because all of this ability already exists there but no one is paying attention to the potential that does exist…no one other than me of course
There are plenty top-end vessels on the market at the moment a lot cheaper then to build new vessels, either domestically or at foreign yard. If you wait until the market turns before acting, the cost of such vessels will go up, however.
What would this do to US Shipbuilding yards? They would either have to modernize to compete, or go bust. To go on relying on a shrinking captive market, or on the grandness of the US Navy, is not going to cut it in the long run.
US yards MUST remain in any equation lest our industry only try to stand up on one leg and we all know how hard that is to do
To blame their high labour costs only is not realistic. Ships are built at yards in Europe with same, or even higher, labour costs. Admittedly not VLCC, simple Bulkers or Container ships, that can better be done by China, Korea and in the future, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. You don’t see such vessels being built in Europe any more, even if they are built for European Owners. (Or even US Owners under FOCs)
Federal taxation programs to incentivize capital investment into US yards to modernize and to increase productivity plus to decrease the onscenely bloated spending on overpriced warships to get the US yards off the crack cocaine of Uncle Sam’s supply. why should any yard try to be commercially competitive if they can charge the taxpayer mountains of cash for CRAP work?
Am I trying to tell America what to do to improve their Maritime industry? Yes, but only because you obviously need some advise, otherwise there will not be a viable American fleet very soon. Building a few new ships for the Jones Act fleet a year at ridiculously high cost is not going to create more jobs for US Mariners, nor is it going to increase the strategically important deep water fleet under US flag.
we do not need a foreigner to tell us how to run our shop…we need leaders here who will step up and do what those of us Americans in the industry are telling them to do
OK, now on with the tin hat.
whatever you want but it still makes you look STOOPID
