The Jones Act

[bubbie617]

Can someone explain the Jones Act to me?

 

When we did a recent Hawaii cruise roundtrip from San Diego, the ship stopped in Ensenada for one hour on the last night because of the Jones Act. No one was permitted to get off the ship.

 

Okay, I understand that you have to stop in foreign port ridiculous as it seems.

 

But now a friend has said that there was a Jones Act problem with her West Coast cruise that stopped in Vancouver and Victoria as well as the west coast of the United States. Canada is no closer than Mexico the last time I checked.

 

This makes no sense to me. Can someone help me out?

[flamingo21401]

I am sure someome out there can give the real legal definition of the Jone Act to you. What I have gotten out of it is that if the vessel was not built in the US it must visit a foreign port before returning to the US. I think it was enacted to protect US ship building interest. There are alot of parts to the Jones act beyond this subject. But this is the one that affects cruising the most.

laura

[tangerinebunny]

So that would be why X stops in Prince Rupert, BC, but often fails to let passengers go ashore? Here I thought they were just padding the brochure. lol thanks.

[bbuchanan]

Tried to upload a pdf of a three page article published in the February 1997 issue. Great, easy to understand explanation. Includes reasons for the ports selected on canal cruises, etc. Could not get the file to upload; tried twice and only guess the file is too big. If you are interested I can email it to you.

[kitty9]

What you are actually referring to is the Passenger Services Act that was written in 1920 in order to protect the US shipbuilding business. The Jones Act is really a law protecting maritime employees and provides them with a means to receive assistance when injured on the job, among other things.

 

Most cruise ships are built and flagged in foreign countries. The reason they are flagged in places like Liberia and Nassau is because the cruise lines don't have to comply with US regulations regarding taxes and employees, despite the fact that cruise lines all seem to have their corporate headquarters in the US. To avoid the provisions of the PSA, a ship must be primarily fabricated in the US, totally assembled in the US, have an American crew and be registered in the US.

 

There are two types of foreign ports that will satisfy the rule of visiting a foreign port: distant foreign ports and nearby foreign ports (Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean Islands with the exception of the Netherland Antilles---why they don't fit under this is a mystery to me). A cruise ship that starts and ends a cruise in a US port, must visit either a nearby or distant foreign port. Interesting that the US Virgin Islands are considered as nearby foreign ports and if a cruise ship visits one of the US Virgin Islands, even though they are US territories, the provisions of the PSA are covered.

 

When you consider that there are no major cruise ship building facilities in the US, and that a vast majority of US workers won't consider working on a cruise ship, there's really no real economic need for the PSA to be in effect. There's no longer a need to protect something that doesn't exist in the US, such as shipbuilding.

[wrp96]

Okay, here's how it works.

 

If you are embarking and disembarking in the same US port, then all you have to do is stop at a NEARBY foreign port (Mexico, Canada, most of the Caribbean).

 

If you are embarking and disembarking at two different US ports, then you have to stop at a DISTANT foreign port (the ABC islands are the most popular for this, i.e. Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).

[signman]

Darcie, best answer I've ever seen on these boards. Kudos.

[MarkSpark]

I think the fact that a cruise ship can have gambling has to do with a foreign stop too. I know the NCl US flagged ships can't have any gambling, if the ship is flagged in another country and has one stop in a foreign country, than they can have gambling on-board. Like when the "Summit" does the Hawaii cruise it's stops once in Mexico, and does have gambling, where the NCl US flagged ships don't have any gambling at all because Hawaii has it's own laws about no gambling in it's coastal water's.

 

It maybe an altogether different thing about gambling. But for some reason I think the two things have something in common, not sure what, but something.

 

Mark

[bbuchanan]

I think the fact that a cruise ship can have gambling has to do with a foreign stop too. I know the NCl US flagged ships can't have any gambling, if the ship is flagged in another country and has one stop in a foreign country, than they can have gambling on-board.

 

My understanding of NCL's Hawaii America is it was negotiated with the State of Hawaii and Senator Inoyue of Hawaii. To have the ships home ported in Hawaii requires they not have a casino.

[kitty9]

signman, thank you for the compliment.

 

MarkSpark, the gambling thing has nothing to do with the PSA. Gambling is not allowed in Hawaii because Hawaii wants it that way. Also, gambling is not allowed within most countries' territorrial waters, the US included. That's why casinos are closed when you're in port. It's probably a monetary thing because ports don't allow the shops to be open while in port----they don't want you staying on the ship and gambling or shopping when you should be in their town spending your bucks.

[flashdog_1]

But there is something in there about what happens if you disembark (by accident or if you're kicked off the ship) before the qualifications have been met. You, personally, are subject to a large fine.

 

I've always wondered if you missed the ship out of Ft Lauderdale or Miami or Tampa and your first port of call, to be able to catch up with the ship, were Key West, if this would apply.

[wieslaw]

Hi, this old law is more complicated than some of the above answers explain it.......but please click on the link below and read the explanation...it might explain some of your questions. The explanation was written in 1999 and there is a reference to a "200 dol " fine per each violation, I believe the fine is now $ 300.00 ( at least it was in 2005)

 

Here is the link:

 

http://www.sealetter.com/Oct-99/alancol.html

 

 

Wes

[bubbie617]

Okay, here's how it works.

 

If you are embarking and disembarking in the same US port, then all you have to do is stop at a NEARBY foreign port (Mexico, Canada, most of the Caribbean).

 

If you are embarking and disembarking at two different US ports, then you have to stop at a DISTANT foreign port (the ABC islands are the most popular for this, i.e. Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).

 

Thanks Wrona:

 

I can't believe you took time out from the bar exams to answer this question. Your explanation answers the question my friend had about Canada not being good enough to satisfy the Jones Act. In the case of the cruise in question, it started and ended at 2 different US ports, so it needs a DISTANT foreign port.

 

Have a great cruise. You've certainly earned it.

[lysolqn]

The Jones Act was passed to protect American carriers (of all types) from foreign competition. The Act prohibits non-American carriers from picking up and dropping off passengers in American ports without first visiting a foreign port.

 

Everyone seems to connect the Act with cruise ships only but it applies to the airlines as well. For instance, Air France may have a flight that originates in Paris, makes a stop at JFK and then continues on to LAX. The Jones Act prohibits that flight from picking up passengers in NY and flying them to LAX, thereby protecting American carriers flying the NY/LAX route. Similarly, an Air Canada flight from Montreal to Miami with a stop in Boston, cannot take passengers on in Boston because it would compete with American carriers that fly the Boston/Miami route.

 

At first glance, the Act seems a bit lame with respect to cruise ships because most people don't travel between US cities by ship. However, if a non-US flagged cruiseline were to offer a cruise from New York to Los Angeles with no foreign ports in between (not likely, but possible), people who might otherwise fly to the coast, might opt to cruise on this foreign carrier, thus taking business away from an American (air) carrier.