The Jones Act

The Realization of America's Marine Highway

The Jones Act is a federal law that regulates shipping in the United States. The reference to this act is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. It was sponsored by Senator Wesley L. Jones and is therefore referred to as the "Jones Act".

It requires that any ships trading or transporting goods between United States ports are built in the United States, flagged as a U.S. vessel, and run using American citizens as their crew.

This act was created to protect American Merchant Marine and American Shipyards against the ability of foreign shipyards to undercut American pricing.

The U.S. flag fleet represents only about 3% of world’s overall tonnage (down from 25% in 1955).

In addition, the Jones Act fleet’s average age is 26.5 years versus 10.3 years for the global containership fleet.

Now is the time for America to revitalize its fleet and regain its global competitiveness.

The Jones Act mandates that all vessels engaged in domestic waterborne commerce between two ports in the United States be:

- Built in the United States

- Owned by a U.S. citizen

- Documented under the laws of the United States (fly the U.S. Flag)

- Crewed by U.S. citizen seafarers

Please read a short Issue Briefing by the American Maritime Congress.