Watching Fremantle Highway AIS this morning, various vessels attending. Hurricane came out of a Friesland island port shuttling between the tugs. She’s a 18 M launch push knee fitted, Panamanian flag.
United States has a large active small boat, fishing, towing, barge and more building industry. Jones act goes thousands of jobs go with it.
It’s already happened in Europe, Launch boat flag of convenience registered, wonder if she has a 3rd world crew too.
People forget that without the US build requirement. Most of the tens of thousands of yachts, fishing vessels and tugs would built in the Far East or Eastern Europe.
A loophole has long allowed hundreds of small fishing boats up to 5 NRT, about 45 feet, built in Canada. I’ve owned a couple of them.
We’ve had a lot of recent immigrant crewmen for a long time, even some illegal immigrant crewmen. This is growing.
If the Jones Act were repealed, do you think the USCG has the resources to provide port state control oversight for thousands of small vessels?