On June 5th the US Maritime Industry is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Jones Act. The Jones Act is the foundation of the US domestic maritime industry and requires all waterborne cargo or “merchandise” moving from one American port to another be carried on a vessel that is crewed by American citizens (up to 25 percent of the unlicensed crew may be holders of a permanent resident document), built in the US, managed and owned by American citizens.
Senator Wesley L. Jones, who served as Washington’s 8th U.S. Senator from 1909-1932, is the author of the Jones Act. The Act has served the Nation over the past 100 years by helping to ensure our domestic commerce moves freely, maintaining a maritime industrial base of shipyards and marine suppliers to serve industry and the military, and providing a cadre of skilled and experienced mariners and officers who are employed in times of peace along our rivers, waterways, and oceans and relied upon to support our military in times of conflict or distress.
