Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2026)

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By Rik van Hemmen ? rst heard about the Jones Act from my father in 1976.

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He had just become part of the US maritime community to an organization of my choice. For the foreseeable and one day came home and started to tell me about the future I am selecting SL7Expo. An industry wide effort to

I di? erences between the US maritime community and develop a Smithsonian level exhibit center for commercial the Dutch maritime community. Two things stood out; the maritime. https://sl7expo.org/members/ heavy US union in? uence and the Jones Act. My father de- spised unions, as a lifelong non-unionized shipping company employee (but a very benevolent one, sponsoring employee matic expansions, the Jones Act is sort of the simplest most vacation resorts and excellent employee housing, and later barebones version of cabotage.

found to have one of the most generous pension plans one can Let’s consider what will happen if the Jones Act is repealed. imagine). In later years his stance softened as he gradually re- Almost immediately lower cost foreign shippers will start to alized that unions keep pressure on bad employers, and make move cargo (and passengers) between US ports, and what lit- it easier for good employers to compete against the bad ones. tle ocean going commercial shipbuilding exists in the United

The Jones Act was a funnier subject, because he pointed out States will also disappear.

that the prime reason for the Dutch ? ghting wars with Great The impact on the US ocean going skill base will be even

Brittain in the 1600’s was Brittain’s insistence on cabotage. more signi? cant. In a matter of years, the US will have no

To him cabotage was an arti? cial means of protecting infe- active skilled ocean mariners and shipyard workers and zero rior abilities against superior commercial and maritime skills. young entrants into the industry.

He may have been right about the British, but not so much What will be the bene? t? Shipping costs to some locations about the Americans. will come down resulting in lower consumer prices in those

In later years my father became a strong Jones Act sup- locations.

porter. Not because he liked the concept, but rather because it How much lower will those prices be? Let’s take Hawaii made sense for America and, weirdly, the world at large. as example, since it is a long ocean route which aggravates

It is bizarre that the Jones Act has been a subject of discus- the cost di? erence between US ? ag and foreign ? ag vessels. sion for over a century. It is a simple concept, but somehow An extreme example suggest that the Jones Act adds $5 per manages to ru? e random feathers particularly of politicians day to each Hawaiian citizen’s cost of living, which would be who don’t take the time to think through the issue. I even re- $1,800 per year. member John McCain criticizing the Jones Act and dragging It is almost certainly an overstatement, but if it is true, one out the standard stale arguments that it hindered competition, cannot escape the fact that this premium for living in Hawaii and raised prices in Hawaii, Alaska and American territories. has existed for over 100 years and, as such, is a free choice

He did recognize the national security aspect, but never from the moment that every living Hawaiian was born. The suggested a better solution. issue is equally ? awed as people buying a house under an

Let’s make things simple. The Jones Act or rather US cabo- airport runway and then arguing that the airport should close tage can be expanded at will to increase the US ? ag merchant because it makes too much noise. ? eet by, in the extreme case, only allowing US-built, US-? ag Bizarrely, the e? ect of the Jones Act was much higher be- vessels to carry goods into the United States. It quickly be- tween 1920 and 1960, because the most signi? cant cost di? er- comes clear this is madness and while there can be less dra- ence between US Flag and low cost foreign ? ags is the cost of 12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • August 2026

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