Jones act hurting Puerto Rico?

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...story-hilo

"It's about the tenacity and resilience of the Hilo people in the face of adversity," Muffler said.

"People learn from stories," Muffler said. "People like stories."

[kalakoa]

The last addition to the museum was the Science Room, a 2016 addition that explores the science behind the generation of tsunamis through a series of interactive exhibits. The Science Room and the new exhibit were funded by a grant from the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, with several items provided by donors, Muffler said.

[Punaperson]

Does anyone know how repealing the Jones Act would affect inter-island shipping ?

Oahu has port capacity, but the rest of the islands are more limited. Is the market on the east side of the Big Island big enough to have foreign shipping companies competing, or would it be a repeat of the situation that drove Aloha Airlines out of business? A low cost airline came in just long enough to put Aloha out of business before leaving the market. Competition lowered prices for a short time, but where are we now ?

[TomK]

I think that's a really good question. I don't have an answer, hope someone else might.

[Eric1600]

There's two laws that restrict shipping:

* U.S. law—the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA)—regulates their ability to transport passengers between U.S. ports. The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA), a “cabotage” or “coastwise” law, was passed by Congress in 1886. The law reserves the transportation of passengers between domestic ports to the more-costly U.S.-built and flagged ships staffed by Americans.

* A companion law enacted in 1920, commonly referred to as the “Jones Act”, applies the same requirements to the transportation of freight

According to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the purposes of such laws “are to assure reliable domestic shipping service and the existence of a maritime capability that is completely subject to national control in times of war or national emergency."

There is only one U.S.-flagged cruise ship left in North America to protect, the Norwegian Cruise Line America’s (NCLA) Pride of America, which offers 7-day weekly cruises among the Hawaiian islands. So this inter-island cruise ship maintains its monopoly and makes the idea of having a ferry between islands more expensive.

Young Brothers has a similar monopoly on freight. As I've pointed out before in this thread, there is a TON of literature on the Jones Act and Hawaii.

http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/keeping-up...jones-act/
http://www.grassrootinstitute.org/2017/0...rspective/
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/09/29...itics-say/
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/jones-act-...i-economy/

According to Matson, in 2003 a container of produce shipped to Hawaii had a surcharge of only $240. As of Jan. 2 [2011] it will soar to $1,075

Since Hawaii is separated by 2,300 miles of ocean and has no highways, railroads or pipe lines from the continental United States, it is almost fully dependent on ocean shipping for at least 90 percent of every substance used and consumed in the state.

The Jones act opposes Article 1 Section 8 Clause 3 of the United States Constitution “the commerce clause”

The Jones Act adds restraints and obstructions to free trade to and from the State of Hawaii; therefore the provisions applied and enforced are unconstitutional and violate the Commerce Clause as well as the 5th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Thanks to the Jones Act the state of Hawaii is denied access to about 90% of all available shipping in the entire world.

Restrictions imposed by the federal Jones Act have virtually destroyed Hawaii’s agricultural economy.

The loss of dairies, poultry farms, vegetable production, even banana plantations have declined or been eliminated because of the intolerable costs of farming and shipping in Hawaii.

The biggest future complication is two-fold for the marijuana industry. Shipping between islands requires Jones Act compliant transportation and it also requires passing through federal waters where the Coast Guard could seize the products when out of state jurisdictions.

[Punaperson]

I don't dispute or argue with any points you made, or are listed in the articles cited. But i don't think my basic question has been answered -what happens to East Hawaii if the Jones Act is repealed, and Young Brothers / Matson go out of business ?

I have no doubt that Oahu prices would drop . I do think they might not drop as much as some hope, because stopping in Hawaii on the way to the mainland is not necessarily good economics in terms of time/fuel costs for large container ships. But, how will containers be brought from Oahu to here ? Is East Hawaii a large enough market, with a large enough port, to warrant container ships coming from Asia to stop here ? And as always, the economics need to factor in what would be the return cargo ? Articles cited talk about how the Jones Act destroyed Hawaii agriculture. Yes, that was true, but now in a more globalized economy, do you really think our bananas, or any other tropical fruit, would compete in the USA market with those trucked up from Central America ? Have you had a chance to speak to local orchid farmers about what they expect to happen to their exports once cheaper Asian product is allowed ?

The last time that I know of where there was an equal balance of shipping to and from the Big Island was when Young Brothers brought barges of sugar up to the mainland, and brought back barges of fertilizer. Now, even our fuel barges that bring product from the refinery on Oahu go back empty. Will a foreign company have a way to balance that loss of revenue, or will our fuel prices jump to make sure their profit margins are met ?

I am not trying to argue in favor of keeping the Jones Act. I just think there are many factors to deal with and think through. Having done a bit of traveling to some other South Pacific islands, I think people should be aware of potential situations when there is not reliable, dependable transport between islands.

[punaticbychoice]

Punaperson @ 20:05:04 (10/05/2017).
I agree with you.
The points you raise are important for putting our situation here into context.
We could be said to be akin to a lunar base on external life support.
Tourism and things like TMT are all we have, and some want to destroy things like TMT
for reasons that are nonsensical.Or even suicidal for us all.
To be blunt, what can we do, long term to maintain a healthy, successful population here?