The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act, regulates maritime commerce in the United States, specifically between American ports. One requirement of this law, now 105 years old, is that all goods transported by water from one U.S. port to another must be carried by ships that were constructed in the United States and which fly the American flag. This practice of shipping between U.S. ports – shipping between two points in the same country is called “cabotage” – was, of course, a much different proposition in 1920 than it is today.
Now, the law is causing problems, not least of which is in Alaska, in part because of the size of the Great Land.
“Alaska is facing an acute energy shortage,” Myers told a State Senate Transportation Committee. “The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has projected shortfalls in the Cook Inlet natural…
