Jones Act

On December 13, 2016, Governor Ige signed off on, and thereby finalized, significant increases in fees charged by the Department of Transportation Harbors Division....

The first two wharfage increases of 17% and 15% on February 1st and October 1st respectively will result in a 34.5% increase in 2017 on a compound basis....

...the American shipping industry has been in a steady decline for decades....

...the cumulative effect is a 54.8% increase in Wharfage rates....

...asking Harbors to release the financial information that would justify the need for a wharfage rate increase....

In the meantime the freight rates for Jones Act tankers to carry the petroleum products to the Northeast have reportedly doubled....

...container-on-barge shuttle service between the State’s Honolulu Harbor and Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor (KBPH) could eliminate much of the truck traffic on the H-1....

...The first public hearing on the proposal will be Nov. 7 at noon at the Pier 11 terminal at Honolulu Harbor....

...consider how a Jones Act exemption and privately-operated model can change the game....

...the harmful effects of the Jones Act on our Navy....

...the spread in ship prices between U.S. and foreign yards has now widened so much that it has significantly negatively impacted the U.S. economy and indirectly resulted in the loss of many thousands of U.S. jobs....

Change Federal law (Jones Act) to eliminate inflated shipping costs that debilitate Hawaii’s economy....

...Horizon Line Inc. covered up unsafe conditions on the Jones Act containership HORIZON TRADER employed in the Puerto Rico trade....

"This plainly is the outgrowth of industry lobbying to get CBP to take Jones Act enforcement more seriously."

the USS GERALD R FORD (CVN-78) is far behind schedule, not ready for deployment, and may need to be redesigned....

... Justice Department has demanded the arrest, condemnation and sale of the tugboat Maulani, which snagged an undersea cable in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor and shut down the Electronic Harbor Security System ....

With this new service, Matson will be competing with several shipping companies offering direct services from the USWC to South Pacific Island destinations....

...Center for the National Interest is associated with the realist school of foreign policy thought....

...making the shipping more expensive and thereby directly adding to the cost of living....

...U.S. companies that assemble oceangoing vessels rely heavily on foreign parts, foreign investment and foreign shipbuilding expertise....

The Federal Register published on June 6, 2016, an announcement from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) stating that they would be establishing a National Multimodal Freight Network....

...An economic boon for the territory—and for Hawaii—would be an exemption from the antiquated Jones Act governing shipping from U.S. ports....

...Bay Ferries, will employ THE CAT between Portland, Maine, USA, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, a distance of 185 n miles. That is roughly comparable to the distance between Honolulu and Kawaihae....

...Puerto Rico’s Economic Crisis Rooted in History of Feds’ Anti-Trade Policies....

...the connection between the Jones Act, the age of the ship, and likely causes the ship was lost....

Puerto Rico’s recent bankruptcy, the Jones Act, and how this could affect us here in Hawaii....

SEA Europe is seeking through the TTIP negotiations a treaty exemption in U.S. Jones Act....

The LCS program is indicative of the problems with U.S. shipbuilding both military and commercial with high costs, poor quality and an inability to deliver on schedule....

After a decade of ILWU disruption, shippers are routing more cargo through U.S. Gulf and East Coast ports....

...South Korea’s three big shipbuilders received “zero” newbuild ship orders during April 2016....

...To say this is uncompetitive in the modern world is a vast understatement....

"How old is an old ship?”

...Matson Q1 profits shrink 27.6% on weak demand for Chinese cargo....

...The principles applicable to the California petroleum market without doubt similarly impact Hawaii....

... in the persons of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders ....

...it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend Jones Act cabotage on the basis of economics and so the pro-Jones Act interests are retreating to national defense....

“The value of the Jones Act fleet: $4.6 billion?”

...Free market think tank says study should include effects of a Jones Act exemption....

...long awaited Congressional legislation to address the Commonwealth’s financial crisis....

...a dispute about starting times....

...The Jones Act pays off — in politics....

...Requires the department of transportation to conduct a feasibility study of establishing an interisland ferry system....

After the local press hullabaloo....

Mizuno decided the bill was necessary after Matson raised its rates by 5 percent for goods shipped to Hawaii at the end of November. This came after the company had reported a 93 percent jump in profits....

While Hawaii goes the other way....

...negative public opinion being generated by TOTE officials seemingly callous testimony....

The LCS were originally projected to cost around US $90 million each in 2001, when the program was being conceived. Bloomberg reported in January 2016 the LCS have cost on average about $440 million each....

Exempting Puerto Rico from the Jones Act is the single most important step Congress can take....

Senator John S. McCain (R-AZ) submitted on January 28, 2016, legislation to eliminate certain domestic build requirements of the Jones Act....