DHS temporarily waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a 10-day Jones Act waiver today for Puerto Rico due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

   U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Elaine Duke on Thursday morning approved a waiver of the federal Jones Act for Puerto Rico due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria, DHS said in a statement.
   The waiver will remain in effect for 10 days and covers all products being shipped to Puerto Rico.
   The waiver is “intended to ensure we have enough fuel and commodities to support lifesaving efforts, respond to the storm, and restore critical services and critical infrastructure operations in the wake of these devastating storms,” Duke said.
   Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said on Twitter Thursday morning that he petitioned the White House Wednesday night for a temporary waiver of the Jones Act. In response, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Twitter Thursday morning that the waiver “will go into effect immediately.”
   The Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires that all goods shipped between American ports travel on U.S.-flagged ships with American crews.
   Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has been working for years to reform and repeal the Jones Act, arguing that it hinders free trade and stifles the economy, sent a letter Tuesday to Acting Secretary Duke, urging DHS to waive the Jones Act for Puerto Rico.
   Shipping costs from the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico have been estimated to be twice as much as from neighboring foreign islands, according to Sen. McCain.
   “It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food, clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this disaster,” he said.
   As of Wednesday, about 44 percent of Puerto Rico’s population was without drinking water, according to the Defense Department.
   When asked about lifting the Jones Act for Puerto Rico on Wednesday, President Trump said, “We’re thinking about that. But we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted, and we have a lot of ships out there right now.”
   Tim Nolan, president of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, said Wednesday, “Our ships have significant capacity and we want to use our resources to support the island. Just one ship can carry the same amount of goods as nearly 2000 passenger planes – and we want to make sure every shipment, every ton, every container counts and helps the people of Puerto Rico.”
   TOTE Maritime, which is a Jacksonville, Fla.-based Jones Act carrier, said it is on-hiring additional equipment to ensure continuous flow of cargo to Puerto Rico from its upcoming sailings.
   On Monday, Crowley, another Jacksonville-based Jones Act carrier, said it had already delivered more than 3,000 loads of food, supplies and other cargo to its terminal in San Juan, with much more on the way in the days ahead.
   Crowley secured additional vessels to handle government and commercial cargo, and to handle the influx of cargo, the company’s logistics group secured more warehouse space on the island.
   Thomas Allegretti, chairman of the American Maritime Partnership, which did not support the waiver for Puerto Rico, said, “What we are seeing clearly on the ground is thousands of cargo containers piling up at the port of San Juan, filled with essential goods that the Puerto Rican people desperately need, but not nearly enough trucks and clear roads to distribute the goods. So, the problem at the port is a lack of trucks and delivery routes, not a lack of vessels.”
   Earlier this month, DHS issued a temporary Jones Act waiver to help facilitate deliveries of petroleum products to hurricane-impacted areas along the Gulf and East coasts. That waiver expired on Sept. 22.