A Review of the Jones Act and Recommendations for a Renewed Merchant Marine
Open Access
- Author:
- Lawn, Michael Ian
- Area of Honors:
- Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Robert Alexander Novack, Thesis Supervisor
John C Spychalski, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Jones Act
merchant marine
cabotage
United States
maritime law - Abstract:
- The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Jones Act and the U.S. merchant fleet to determine if changes to the act are necessary and offer recommendations that could improve the act. The Jones Act, which specifically refers to Section 27 of the “Merchant Marine Act of 1920”, sets the requirements for ships to be United States flagged and eligible to transport goods and people between two United States ports. The Jones Act has remained untouched since it was passed in 1920 after the negative experiences the United States maritime industry faced during World War I. Many papers and debates have been had regarding the Jones Act over the years with the debate heating up more recently. Thus, it appeared to be an important time to gain a greater understanding of the act and its effects on the United States. The research of this thesis began with a literature review of the history of cabotage laws and the Jones Act to gain a historical context of the act. Afterwards, the debate and arguments around the act were examined to understand the positions of those who support and disagree with the act. From the literature review of papers focused on the Jones Act, the arguments against outweighed the arguments for the Jones Act. Following the literature review, an analysis was done by examining the cabotage laws and merchant fleets of comparable nations to determine if the Jones Act was causing more problems than it was solving. From this analysis it was determined the U.S. merchant fleet is suffering due to the Jones Act. The U.S. flagged fleet is abnormally small compared to other nations and based on examinations of cabotage laws, the Jones Act is the likeliest cause of the current status of the U.S. merchant marine. Based on the literature review and analysis, three recommendations were provided to improve the Jones Act in order to improve the status of the U.S. flagged fleet and benefit the economy of the United States. The first recommendation is the elimination of the U.S. build requirement of the Jones Act. The U.S. shipbuilding industry lacks any competitive advantage for the production of ships leading to a lack of ships being produced for domestic use. The second recommendation is the permanent exemption for Hawaii, Alaska, and U.S. territories from the Jones Act. These states and territories, which are not landlocked with the continental United States, face the greatest burden from the Jones Act and are unable to take full advantage of international shipping. The third recommendation is a limited-time exemption for non-compliant ships to engage in domestic shipping until the merchant fleet improves to an adequate status to provide for the needs of the United States and its defense.