SaltyDawg86
Senior Member
I think you need to read the Jones Act which is a federal law. So any person and any ship within US jurisdiction is subject to it. And there is no such thing as a "Jones Act Ship". The Jones act prohibits certain shipping activities, and allows others. Certain activities are only allowed using US Documented Vessels which are also US owned and US built. And it absolutely involves both the ship and cargo, as both are subject to seizure when there is a violation.
When you refer to a "Jones Act Ship", I think you are referring to a ship that meets the criteria for shipping between US ports. But this may all just be a matter of terminology.
You're kidding, right? The Jones Act does not cover foreign ships. At all....
I also said the Jones Act don't have as much to do with the ship as it does with the cargo. A foreign flagged ship can call on successive US ports as well, but like a non-Jones Act approved ship, they can't deliver cargo from 1 US port to another. Non US built ships that fly the US flag are not Jones Act ships, bottom line. With that said, US mariners get covered under some policies the Jones Act Lay's out.
If a non US built ship falls under the Jones Act, why are ships not built over seas then ran in the US? Because it's not allowed. It's proven new ships are more hydrodynamic and aerodynamic which saves a lot on fuel, which causes the price of shipping containers to drop, yet we can't use them because they're not built in the US.