US Jones Act Shipbuilding


America, we have a problem!!!!! 50 years ago James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, made a similar call to Houston that tested a Nation on the edge of its chairs until the successful landing of our astronauts.

What is the challenge today? Our critical Jones Act and RRF fleets are aging and we are not rebuilding new assets quickly enough to maintain the critical mass needed to stay competitive. We estimate that we will have to replace and/or build over 10,000 new modern assets by 2035 to support domestic container trades or the burgeoning U.S.Offshore Wind business.

That being the case we have to re-energize and engage our commercial ship-building industry like we did during WW II when the Nation as a whole built over 5,000 marine assets in less than 3.5 years. Look it up, that’s a fact. How did we do it, we assembled standardized series of vessels from Kits at every large and small yard available. Mass manufacturing was invented by Mr. Ford.

To those who advocate that we manufacture commercial vessels in the United States because of the Jones Act, I offer the following for your consideration:

1. Every trading nation in the world has its own Cabotage Law to protect its commercial and military shipbuilding industry.

2. Laws do not prohibit building ships. A close reading of the Jones Act reveals that the preponderance of the articles is about SOLAS (Safety of Lives At Sea), crewing and flagging requirements, insurance limitations, etc. I suggest everyone take the time to read the Law.

3. We give up the Jones Act we jeopardize more than 500,000 good-paying American jobs with the unintended consequence we give up control of our coasts and therefore our National Security.

So my question is; if we give up the Jones Act and our American commercial ship-building ships industry in the United States who will fill the void?

Most likely, the Chinese, Koreans, and Europeans. This outcome does not seem to make sense to me.

Today America is once again challenged. We have to rebuild our fleets at home. We Americans have the imagination and the energy to get the job done. Green Shipping Line and the AFL-CIO Metal Workers have the plan to cut, form, and fabricate standardized steel Kits for the new modern marine assets that we need, economically, in full compliance with the Jones Act.

Let’s stop talking and get back to work. We have done this before and can do it again.

To learn more visit our website at: GreenShippingLine.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where We Came From & Where We Are Going: Part 1

Image
      The history of our origin is vital to understanding where we are going. Let’s go back to the historic days of the Mayflower when the American entrepreneurial spirit was born; back to when John Howland, the patriarch of his family and one of the 41 signers of the Mayflower Compact, first touched American soil. Although the family has been prominent for centuries, they have a quiet way of doing what needs to be done, without ever asking for credit or calling attention to their actions. Generation after generation passed down their passion for expansion, building the nation, and the desire to better their world.      One such ancestor was Gardinier Howland. Together with his partner Samuel Aspinwall, they built the first clipper ships, Rainbow and Sea Witch, and started the family's love of shipping. Their firm also built the Panama Railroad, which eventually became the Panama Canal.       Moses Taylor, another relative, also owned hi...
Read more

What Does Decreasing Boxcar Fleet Mean for U.S. Capacity?

Image
What Does Decreasing Boxcar Fleet Mean for U.S. Capacity? Blog  / By  Green Shipping Line Box cars are an aging technology that is still relied upon by many shippers. Steve Raetz, from the  Transportfolio blog , described in depth the situation in his recent post. Here’s a portion of the article: The story of the disappearing boxcars seems to be one that is best understood through the data and in the eyes of individual shippers and the industries that leverage these assets. The current boxcar fleet consists of 115,000 cars; 65,276 boxcars will retire over the next 15 years. But new technologies, such as newer boxcars with higher freight capacities, are slowly replacing the older versions. At the same time, this isn’t an absolute solution; older infrastructure can’t handle the larger freight cars, especially in the northeast. Railroads own more than 75% of all boxcars; the average age of these boxcars is close to 30 years. Privately-owned boxcars account for 22% of the mar...
Read more

Have you ever heard of the American Maritime Highway?

Image
Have you ever heard of the American Maritime Highway? Everyone has heard of and likely traveled on highways in a car or a bus or received goods along these highways, but the American Maritime Highway is a widely untouched network when it comes to transportation.  The vast network of highways on land is used with reckless abandon, and because of this, various greenhouse gasses are released into the atmosphere on a daily basis, damaging the air and furthering the problem of pollution in the United States. Every day, these highways are used to transport people and goods; companies like Amazon, Walmart, Publix, etc., transport goods along these highways, utilizing automobiles and highways. “However, America's waterways are underused. The benefits of using our marine waterways -- such as reducing landside congestion and reducing system wear and tear -- are not perceived on an individual level. Using our waterways more consistently would create more public benefits and incentivize shippe...
Read more