What is the Jones Act?
The Jones Act is a federal law that regulates maritime commerce in the United States. It requires that all vessels that transport goods between two U.S. ports be built, owned, and operated by U.S. citizens, and that they be registered in the United States. The act also requires that all crew members on these vessels be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
The purpose of the Jones Act is to protect the U.S. merchant marine and ensure that the country has a sufficient number of vessels and skilled workers to support its national defense needs. The restrictions imposed by the Jones Act make it more difficult for foreign-flagged vessels to operate in the U.S. market, and have been the subject of controversy for many years, with some groups advocating for changes to the law and others supporting its continued enforcement.
Jones Act and the OCS
All points within the U.S. territorial sea or inside the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured are “coastwise points” covered by the Jones Act restrictions. Points within the Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) are generally not considered coastwise points, although installations affixed or connected to the U.S. continental shelf for purposes of resource exploration or extraction, even temporarily, are coastwise points.
OCSLA states that the laws of the United States are extended to the subsoil and seabed of the Outer Continental Shelf and to all artificial islands, and all installations and other devices permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed for the purpose of exploring for, developing, or producing resources.
Customs considers any vessel / installation / platform / scour, foundation attached to the OCS a “coastwise” point and subject to the Jones Act provisions.
CBP has held that use of a vessels in laying cable, umbilical or pipe is not considered coastwise trade, even when the cable or umbilical is laid between two points in the United States. The logic is that cable or umbilical is not landed as cargo but paid out in the course of the laying operation makes such operation permissible. As such, a foreign-flag vessel may carry cable or umbilical which it is to lay between two coastwise points.
However, the transportation of cable by any vessel other than a cable-laying vessel to a cable-laying location at a point within U.S. territorial waters would be considered coastwise trade and would have to be done by a coastwise qualified vessel.
