The Jones Act and How its effects Alaska Cruises
A 1988 GAO report found that the Jones Act was costing Alaskan families between $1,921 and $4,821 annually in increased prices paid on goods shipped from the lower 48 states to Alaska. Today, most of these goods are either flown in or trucked up the Alaska Highway. The two most expensive modes of transportation for moving goods to and from Alaska.
Essentially what the Jones Act does is requires that all vessels transporting goods by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed wholly by U.S. citizens. The cabotage provisions restrict the carriage of goods or passengers between United States ports to U.S. built and flagged vessels. In addition, at least 75 percent of the crew members must be U.S. citizens. Moreover foreign repair work of U.S.-flagged vessels' hull and superstructure is limited to 10 percent foreign-built steel weight. This restriction largely prevents American ship owners from refurbishing their ships at overseas shipyards.
Unfortunately this old law is still on the books so cruises that allow passengers to disembark in Alaska must begin their cruise in a different country. This has been a real boom for the tourist industry in Vancouver Canada.
Comments:
Is Princess Cruises giving me a valid answer to my inquiry? I asked Princess Cruises if I could sail to Skagway Alaska from Seattle one week, stay behind in Skagway for one week, and catch the same ship on its scheduled trip back to Seattle the following week. They said they were not able to do that because of the Jones Act. Is this true? Why does the Jones Act prevent people from doing this?Answer:
The part that directly prohibits this is found in the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886. The Jones Act just added more regulations and stipulations to this older act. Both are still in force and greatly effect how and what the cruise lines can offer to their clients.
Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886
Essentially, it says:
No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200(now $300) for each passenger so transported and landed.
Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, 46 App. U.S.C. § 289, foreign-flagged vessels cannot transport passengers directly between U.S. ports. The Passenger Services Act, however, does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from and returning to the same U.S. port. Nor does it prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from a U.S. port, visiting a foreign port, and then continuing to a second U.S. port. However, in order to embark in a US port and disembark in a second US port, the vessel must visit a distant foreign port outside of the North America. Nor does it prevent a ship from taking on passengers at a U.S. port and then returning them to another U.S. city by ground or air, or vice-versa as long as the ship either is a cruise to nowhere or if it stops at all, it must stop at at least one foreign port.