The Jones Act Reform Coalition has scaled back its attempt to repeal the Jones Act and now seeks to eliminate just the U.S. Build Requirement for certain trades. U.S.-flag ship operators quickly rejected this proposal. Allen Walker, Executive Director of the National Shipyard Association and a member of the MCTF's Board of Directors, recently submitted the following letter to the Journal of Commerce explaining why there is absolutely no need to change the domestic build requirement. It is important to note that this proposal has generated absolutely no support among U.S.-flag carriers.
American shipyards build high quality vessels that offer American consumers efficient service.
To generate support for its new proposal, JARC has again relied on misinformation. First, take the 118 vessels that JARC claims represent the U.S.-flag domestic fleet. Multiply by 16 and you arrive at an accurate accounting of ships and large barges in the domestic fleet. The statement that the cost of a U.S.-built ship is often four times that of the world market is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. In fact, small and mid-sized U.S. shipyards are building vessels to service the offshore oil, tugboat and barge, and car and passenger ferry industries at prices that are equal to, if not less than, their competition on the world market.