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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Hey Jones act rebuttal for the what it's worth department

American Maritime Industry Fights Back Against False Claims on Jones Act and Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico

Workers unload containers of shipping company Crowley from a Jones Act container barge after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria at the port in San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Alvin Baez

The American maritime industry is firing back against harsh criticism of the Jones Act in the media and by certain lawmakers in Washington amid the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.

Attacks on the Jones Act intensified after the Department of Homeland Security seemingly denied a request to waive Jones Act requirements for Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurrican Maria on Tuesday, saying a waiver was not needed at this time because there are enough American ships bringing supplies to the island.  

“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” a spokesman for the DHS said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, however, the DHS said it had not made up its mind on the issue and it was still considering a request by members of Congress to waive theshipping restrictions, but so far it had not received any formal requests fromshippers or other branches of the federal government to waive the law.

“We are considering the underlying issues and are evaluating whether a waiver should be issued,” a senior Homeland Security official told reporters on Wednesday.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, aka the Jones Act, is a federal law requiring goods shipping between two ports in the United States be carried on American-built ships that are mostly owned and crewed by American citizens. The law applies to ships transporting goods between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, although not the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

To get the facts straight on the Jones Act’s impact on hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, we reached out to the American Maritime Partnership, a group representing more than 400 U.S. maritime companies from Alaska to Puerto Rico.

“A steady stream of additional supplies keeps arriving in Puerto Rico on American vessels and on international ships from around the world. The problem now is distributing supplies from Puerto Rico’s ports inland by surface transportation,” said Thomas Allegretti, Chairman of the American Maritime Partnership.

Since Maria hit, American maritime companies have moved approximately 9,500 containers of goods in Puerto Rico to help the territory and its residents with the recovery. Foreign-flag vessels are also arriving at the island as they normally do when transporting goods not coming from the United States.

Allegretti offered another statement later in the day amid reports that thousands of shipping containers loaded with vital supplies were stacking up San Juan:

“Earlier today, the President responded to a question on the White House lawn regarding the need to waive the Jones Act for the recovery in Puerto Rico.  He mentioned that the shippers are not in favor of waiving the Jones Act. He is right and here is why.  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. 

The President was also right when he said that we have a lot of ships out there right now. Much needed cargo has been delivered to the port, and an armada of U.S. and foreign vessels continues to arrive.

We continue to work hand in glove with the FEMA and the rest of the Administration to help find solutions to get the goods distributed from the ports to our fellow Americans, and the men and women of American and Puerto Rican maritime, along with foreign shippers, are answering the call.” – Thomas Allegretti, Chairman, American Maritime Partnership

In response to numerous reports in the media claiming that the Jones Act is somehow hindering relief efforts in Puerto Rico, the AMP provided the following fact check to hopefully set the record straight: 

Claim: The Jones Act prevents cargo from foreign vessels to reach Puerto Rico.

False. Any foreign vessel can call on Puerto Rico. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted in a 2011 report that two-thirds of the ships serving Puerto Rico were foreign ships. 55 different foreign carriers provided imported cargo to Puerto Rico in a single month, as cited as an example by GAO. Foreign shipping companies compete directly with the American shipping companies in an intensely competitive transportation market.

Claim: Import costs are at least twice as high in Puerto Rico as in neighboring islands on account of the Jones Act.

There is no study that supports this statement in any way. In fact, anecdotal evidence about rates indicates that the opposite is true. For example, one analysis shows it is 40% more expensive to ship goods from the U.S. mainland on foreign vessels to the U.S. Virgin Islands (not subject to the Jones Act) than on Jones Act vessels to Puerto Rico.

Claim: Jones Act vessels lack sufficient capacity to reach communities impacted by Hurricane Maria.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, one hundred percent of the island was without power, and roads were blocked by downed trees and debris. Goods are arriving to the island on vessels but bottlenecks on the roads are limiting arrival to the communities. The largest bottleneck is not getting goods to the island, but delivering goods once they arrive.

Domestic maritime companies have the equipment at their terminals to handle the throughput at the terminals without overwhelming the shoreside and inland infrastructure. Domestic maritime roll-on/roll-off barges can immediately discharge cargoes while work is performed to restore power for cranes and other equipment at the terminals. Domestic maritime containerships can deliver cargoes from the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico in three days.

Claim: A Jones Act waiver would add efficiency to the delivery of essential cargoes to impacted communities.

Because of infrastructure challenges, a Jones Act waiver could hinder, not help, relief efforts. A Jones Act waiver could overwhelm the system, creating unnecessary backlogs and causing confusion on the distribution of critical supplies throughout the island. Already there are logistical bottlenecks for Jones Act cargoes as a result of the inability to distribute goods within Puerto Rico due to road blockages, communications disruptions, and concerns about equipment shortages, including trucks, chassis, and containers.

Claim: The Jones Act adds significantly to the cost of goods in Puerto Rico.

Over the last decade, a parade of politicians and “experts” have attempted to estimate the so- called “cost” of the Jones Act in Puerto Rico. Because the estimates have been wildly contradictory, in 2012, Puerto Rico Delegate Pierluisi asked the GAO to determine the true “cost.” The GAO studied the issue for more than a year and debunked the previous estimates. First, the GAO said there are far too many factors that impact the price of a consumer good to determine the supposed cost related to shipping, much less the Jones Act. Second, the GAO said, one could not truly estimate the cost unless one knew which American laws would be applied to foreign ships if they were allowed to enter the domestic trades, which would certainly increase the cost of foreign shipping.

Claim: Changing the Jones Act in Puerto Rico will help the island, especially considering its current economic crisis.

A GAO study on Puerto Rico listed a number of potential harms to the territory itself if the Jones Act were changed, including the possible loss of the stable service the island currently enjoys under the Jones Act and the loss of jobs on the island. Moreover, American domestic carriers are making some of the largest private sector investments currently underway in Puerto Rico by investing nearly $1 billion in new vessels, equipment, and infrastructure. They employ hundreds of Puerto Rican American citizens on the island and on vessels serving the market, providing highly reliable, low-cost maritime and logistics services. These private sector jobs and reliable services are important to the long-term recovery of the Puerto Rican economy and would be jeopardized by changes to the Jones Act.

“The men and women of the American maritime industry stand committed to the communities in Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Maria, where many of our own employees and their families reside and are working around the clock to respond to the communities in need,” said Allegretti. “As our industry has done in past natural disasters, including most recently Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we are actively working with the Administration, FEMA, MARAD, and relief organizations to deploy quickly and deliver essential goods like food, fuel, first aid supplies, and building materials.”

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Double standards Jones act

U.S. Denies Request for Puerto Rico Jones Act Waiver

jones act
Photo credit: Crowley Maritime Corporation



By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday denied a request to waive shipping restrictions to help get fuel and supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying it would do nothing to address the island’s main impediment to shipping, damaged ports.

The Jones Act limits shipping between coasts to U.S. flagged vessels. However, in the wake of brutal storms, the government has occasionally issued temporary waivers to allow the use of cheaper, tax free, or more readily available foreign-flagged ships.

The Department of Homeland Security, which waived the act after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, did not agree an exemption would help this time.

On Monday, U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez and seven other representatives asked Elaine Duke, acting head of Homeland Security, to waive the nearly 100-year-old shipping law for a year to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.

Gregory Moore, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, an office of Homeland Security, said in a statement that an assessment by the agency showed there was “sufficient capacity” of U.S.-flagged vessels to move commodities to Puerto Rico.

“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

The government’s rationale for a waiver after the storms hit Texas, Louisiana and Florida was to ease movement of fuel to places along the U.S. East Coast and make up for temporary outages of high-capacity pipelines.

“The situation in Puerto Rico is much different,” Moore said in the statement, adding that most of the humanitarian effort would be carried out with barges, which make up a large portion of the U.S. flagged cargo fleet.

Puerto Rico has long railed against the Jones Act, saying it makes the cost of imported basic commodities, such as food, clothing and fuel, more expensive.

“Our dependence on fossil fuel imports by sea is hampering the restoration of services,” said Juan Declet-Barreto, an energy expert at the nonprofit group the Union of Concerned Scientists. The refusal to allow the waiver “is raising fears on the island that they are going to be left behind in this disaster.”

The United States shipped an average of nearly 770,000 barrels of crude oil and oil products like gasoline and diesel annually to Puerto Rico from 2012 to 2016.

Supporters of the Jones Act, including ship builders, have said it supports American jobs, including ones in Puerto Rico and keeps shipping routes reliable.

Republicans Senator John McCain and Representative Gary Palmer have supported measures to repeal the Jones Act. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

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September 25

Maritime Monday for September 25th, 2017: Oxford Bags

US Coast Guard Northeast – firefighting and abandon ship exercise, Photo by BMC Chasteen, US Coast Guard Cutter Tackle – see also
The Weather Channel

1938 New England Hurricane 78th Anniversary; September 21, 1938 – On September 21, 1938, one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes in recorded history struck Long Island and Southern New England. The storm developed near the Cape Verde Islands on September 9, tracking across the Atlantic and up the Eastern Seaboard. The storm hit Long Island and Southern Connecticut on September 21, moving at a forward speed of 47 mph! Sustained hurricane force winds were felt across central and eastern Long Island and southeastern Connecticut. The hurricane produced a destructive storm surge flooding coastal communities as well as producing three to seven inches of rainfall.

The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 on NOAA/National Weather Service

This aerial view shows the destruction of boats and pier sheds by a hurricane at New London, Conn., Sept. 22, 1938. The hurricane swept the North Atlantic seaboard Sept. 21, leaving damages estimated at $4,000,000. (AP Photo) – 45 min audio on Vermont Public Radio

The Great Hurricane of 1938 in Photos on The Weather Channel

1938 storm “The Long Island Express” pounded the Eastern Seaboard on New York Daily News

Erie Canal Museum on I Love NY

It’s the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal in New York this year, and what better way for the Erie Canal Museum to honor it than with an exhibit focusing on a little-known part of canal history: the lives of the women impacted by its presence. The exhibit will show photos and stories of women who worked or traveled on the canal

Erie Canal Museum—Hidden Perspectives: Women’s Lives on the Erie Canal
(Syracuse, NY; September 20, 2017 – November 5, 2017) 12 Must-See Fall Exhibits Around the World on Smithsonian

Weighlock Building (constructed in 1850) Erie Boulevard East & Montgomery Street, Syracuse, Onondaga County, NY — VIEW FROM ACROSS CANAL, SHOWING NORTH FACADE AND WEST END — ca. 1903

Celebrating and preserving the life of the last remaining Weighlock Building in America, the Erie Canal Museum is a Greek revival building, standing as a monument to the importance of the Erie Canal. Home to several ghosts, including a group of see-through children who play in the courtyard, a woman who was killed where the model canal boat now sits. Watch a video from when the Haunted History Trail of New York State visited the Erie Canal Museum.

Syracuse, N.Y. Erie Canal – approx. 1910 – Images of the Erie Canal in Syracuse
Happy 200th Birthday, Erie Canal – This investment in infrastructure transformed a nation
Pictures of Beaver Island on Expedia
1856 daguerreotype of James Strang, taken on Beaver Island by J. Atkyn, itinerant photographer who later became one of Strang’s assassins

In July of 1850, on the twentieth birthday of his secret second wife, James Strang crowned himself King of Beaver Island, a small island in Lake Michigan.

Strang led a sect of Mormons who had broken from the church after the death of Mormon founder Joseph Smith in 1844.

In an elaborate ceremony, Strang marched into a log tabernacle wearing a crown and flowing red robe. The self-proclaimed king would later champion polygamy, piracy, and treason against the United States government.

In 1855, a headline in the New York Times railed against the “wholesale robbery by pirates on Lake Michigan.” A “gang of marauders, who are reported to be Mormons from Beaver Island,” were burning sawmills and robbing stores along the shores of the Great Lakes.

These were no ordinary pirates: they had “a boldness, coolness and desperation rarely equaled in the records of highwaymen.

The Insane Story of the Pirate Who Hijacked the Mormon Church and Became King of Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)

Beaver Islanders Get Their Clever On – The 2008 Winter Gas Run
The Guardian: Two Buddhists who released £5,000 worth of crustaceans into the English Channel as part of a religious ceremony have been fined almost £15,000 for causing “untold damage” to the environment. Only 323 crustaceans have been recovered by local fishermen, and the most recent American lobsters hauled were found to have been carrying “viable eggs”, showing they had been breeding. – photo (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Two Buddhists fined £15,000 for releasing crustaceans into sea

The irony here is that the Buddhists, by acting on their pro-animal rights position, may be guilty of killing off countless sea creatures through their actions. They better hope their beliefs are wrong, since karma is going to kick them in the ass for this one.  –Patheos

Divers Describe the Creepiest Thing They’ve Seen Underwater
‘Why are Oxford Trousers like two French towns?’ ‘Because they are Toulon and Toulouse’. The Oxford Crew of 1931

Oxford Bags, the Ridiculously Wide-Legged Trousers of the 1920s

Oxford bags: when men wore skirt pants on beSpoke
Buffalo, New York, circa 1900. “Buffalo River and elevators, foot of Main Street.” 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size on SHORPY
East River Docks, New York, Circa 1900; Steam Tugboat H. B. Moore Jr. in the foreground. Built in 1896, by A.C. Brown and Son of Tottenville, New York as the H.B. Moore Jr. for Sivert J. Kron of New York, New York. The tug was later acquired by the Canal-Lakes Towing Company of New York, New York. Where she was renamed as the Calatco No. 4. In 1947, she was acquired by the McAllister Brothers Towing Company of New York, New York. Where the tug was renamed as the Dorothy McAllister. In 1958, the tug went out of documentation. Her current and or final disposition is unknown. (Source: steamboats.com) click image to see full size
Welcome to The Grapes, a narrow riverside pub that’s stood on the pebbled banks of the Thames in London’s Docklands area for nearly 500 years. And guess who owns it today: none other than Lord of the Rings’ wizard himself– Gandalf, a.k.a, Sir Ian Mckellen. Oh, and on Monday nights, when he’s not off making Hollywood movies, Sir Ian usually hosts the pub’s quiz night.

Gandaldf’s London Pub that Launched a Thousand Ships

Frank Reade Dime-Novels: Discovering a forgotten superhero of American sci-fi history – The author was in fact Luis Senarens, a Brooklynite of Cuban descent who began writing for the series at the age of just sixteen. When he was seventeen, he received a letter of praise from Jules Verne himself. The two would spend the rest of their careers stealing ideas from each other. It was only Verne, however, who would become a titan of science fiction.

Of course, it didn’t help that Senarens’ stories were only published in dime-novels, a form of popular fiction typically blamed for the criminal behaviour of young men in the same way that video games are blamed today.

This painting, originally entitled The Twenty-fifth of December, 1860, On the Thames, records a particular moment during a bitterly cold winter, when the Thames was frozen for more than fourteen weeks.

The Thames in Ice (ca. 1860) James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903) Freer|Sackler Gallery; Washington, DC.

“To me the simple act of tying a knot is an adventure in unlimited space … limited only by the scope of our own imagery and the length of the ropemaker’s coil.” —Clifford W. Ashley, The Ashley Book of Knots

Thou Shalt Knot: Clifford W. Ashley,” a New Bedford Whaling Museum exhibition running through June 2018 that explores the work of master knot-tyer, maritime artist, historian and author Clifford W. Ashley (1881-1947).

Deck of Ship in Moonlight; 1876 watercolor from a scrapbook kept by John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
The Notorious American Gangster Al Capone fishing while on vacation in South Florida, 1931 – Pictures in History