Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2006)

June 2006 51

That message sank home. If a future catastrophe, natural or otherwise, prompts consideration of waivers, the decision makers will be much better pre- pared to deal with the situation and not jeopardize our maritime cabotage laws.

As for the future, we claim no clair- voyance. We can only state that with such strong support in the

Administration, Congress and key

Federal agencies, the Jones Act is as solid as it ever was.

Not that there won't be challenges.

The law continues to be a frequent topic before the World Trade Organization.

The United States has never bent to pressure in these or other trade talks, but

MCTF has to make sure that remains the case.

Will some future legislation present a loophole, intentionally or not? The potential is there, but just as when a recodification of Title 46 inadvertently threatened to remake basic domestic maritime policy, MCTF will sound the alarm.

If there's any frustration that MCTF feels, both collectively and individually, it's that America's Jones Act fleet is not appreciated as much as it should be out- side our nation's Capital. Many

Americans are unaware of the scope and impact of domestic waterborne com- merce. Unfortunately, unlike many modes of domestic transport, MCTF does not have the resources to launch a nationwide education effort.

Even those familiar with our maritime industry sometimes do us a disservice when they compare today's merchant marine to previous levels. It is true that at the end of World War II, the United

States had the largest fleet in the world.

A U.S. flag could be seen flying from the sterns of vessels in just about every port in the world.

While one may wax nostalgic for those days and rightfully lament that flag of convenience operators have usurped our fleet in international com- merce, it is misleading to suggest that the domestic fleet's stature has dimin- ished. The vessels that fly the American flag on our inland rivers, Great Lakes, coasts and trade to Hawaii, Alaska,

Puerto Rico and Guam, are among the most efficient in the world. The increas- ing size and efficiency of modern ships makes reliance on comparing numbers of ships a risky proposition. In just about every trade, one vessel now car- ries as much cargo as did five, seven… decades ago. It is fitting then that this column will appear close to National

Maritime Day on May 22. May is also the month that the National Archives are devoting to the U.S. maritime industry.

We hope that our nation will take special notice of the event and reflect on the contributions of our domestic fleet. It is truly U.S.-owned. It employs

Americans. It's built here. It pays taxes here.

It complies with our laws. Because of all that and more, America's Jones Act fleet is the foundation of the world's safest and most efficient transportation system.

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The largest Jones Act vessels on the Great

Lakes are more than 1,000 feet long and can carry nearly 70,000 tons of iron ore or coal each trip. A 70,000-ton iron ore cargo will feed a major steel mill's blast furnaces for 5 days. A like-sized coal cargo will produce enough elec- tricity to power a metropolitan area the size of

Greater Detroit for a day. (Photo courtesy U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers) 2006WorldYearbook2006WorldYearbook2006WorldYearbook2006WorldY

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