4 ms·

It's actually worse than that: Ships that transport goods or passengers between US ports must be US-registered, owned by US citizens, built in the US, and oper

by tylerl 8y ago

It's actually worse than that: Ships that transport goods or passengers between US ports must be US-registered, owned by US citizens, built in the US, and operated by US residents. It's a bit of exceptionally protectionist legislation passed a hundred years ago that continues to hang on mostly because nobody uses boats to move things between US ports anyway. It's a mess for the cruise industry thought. Cruise ships are never built in the US, so they have to drop off passengers at the same port they picked them up at, or it's a $778 fine per passenger, even in a medical emergency. The cruise company will make the passenger pay the fine, of course.

nradov 8y ago
Where a ship is built is irrelevant. Foreign built ships can be US flagged. The owners just don't want to pay for it.
- jzwinck 8y ago
  I think you're mistaken: > The Jones Act requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned and operated by United States citizens or permanent residents. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jonesact.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jonesact.asp
  - wmoser 8y ago
    You are both sort of correct. A foreign built ship can be us flagged, it just isn’t eligible for Jones act trade. I am a US Merchant Mariner who has worked on a US flagged, Australian built ship in Asia. There aware other considerations besides just cabotage laws about where one might want to flag one’s vessel. The one thing I never understood was why everyone gets bent out of shape over shipping rules but don’t consider or care about airline cabotage.
  - danjayh 8y ago
    You are correct. In fact, one cruise line did attempt to build a ship in the USA during the early 2000s for the purpose of running cruises in Hawaii. The project was a disaster. Norwegian Cruise Lines bought the ship's carcass, towed it to Germany, and had it turned into an actual passenger vessel. They were given special dispensation to run the cruises anyway when it was finished. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_America

by tylerl 8y ago

nradov 8y ago

Where a ship is built is irrelevant. Foreign built ships can be US flagged. The owners just don't want to pay for it.

jzwinck 8y ago
I think you're mistaken: > The Jones Act requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned and operated by United States citizens or permanent residents. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jonesact.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jonesact.asp
- wmoser 8y ago
  You are both sort of correct. A foreign built ship can be us flagged, it just isn’t eligible for Jones act trade. I am a US Merchant Mariner who has worked on a US flagged, Australian built ship in Asia. There aware other considerations besides just cabotage laws about where one might want to flag one’s vessel. The one thing I never understood was why everyone gets bent out of shape over shipping rules but don’t consider or care about airline cabotage.
- danjayh 8y ago
  You are correct. In fact, one cruise line did attempt to build a ship in the USA during the early 2000s for the purpose of running cruises in Hawaii. The project was a disaster. Norwegian Cruise Lines bought the ship's carcass, towed it to Germany, and had it turned into an actual passenger vessel. They were given special dispensation to run the cruises anyway when it was finished. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_America