Speaker Series: The Jones Act - American Shipping Protection?

Chatham Marconi Welcomes David J. Farrell, Jr. to its Speaker Series

Around 1912 when Guglielmo Marconi’s invention saved RMS Titanic’s survivors, his radio transmissions would have reached few U.S.-flag ships:  There were only seven ships engaged in international trade!  The U.S. quickly built up its fleet for World War I, but afterward as normalcy returned it needed to figure out what to do with a glut of ships.  The result was the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act.   It defined U.S. commercial maritime policy and seafarer safety, with the goal of encouraging a robust U.S.-flag merchant marine, and remains the controlling law over 100 years later.

Since World War II, however, the Jones Act has backfired -- at least as concerns U.S.-flag international shipping.  The Jones Act’s combination of the world’s leading protectionist shipping legislation and the most generous seafarer personal injury remedies has “sunk” our merchant marine so thoroughly, that today U.S.-flag ships carry only 1.5% of our oceanic imports and exports.  The size of the U.S. merchant marine fleet has been dramatically reduced, and we must rely on other nations’ ships to carry our international imports and exports. 

This has led to high costs for imported goods, and contributed directly to the COVID-19 pandemic’s supply chain crisis.  Furthermore, having no U.S. international commercial fleet leads to serious national security issues, such as the U.S. Navy being tasked to attack Yemen’s Houthis rebels to safeguard other nations' ships half way around the world.  Closer to home, the Jones Act is actively impeding construction of offshore wind farms by preventing the use of uniquely specialized wind turbine construction vessels.  

Is there a practical solution for our big island nation?  David J. Farrell, Jr., an expert in Admiralty and Maritime Law with FARRELL SMITH O’CONNELL, and immediate Past President of The Maritime Law Association of the United States, will discuss his research into the Jones Act and possible remedies for the problems besetting the U.S. maritime industry and the nation.

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