| Seaman and sailors lacked legal protection against | | | | Act. To qualify as a seaman and to be eligible for |
| deplorable working and living conditions on board ships | | | | protection under the Jones Act, the United States |
| before 1920. With the passing of the Merchant | | | | Supreme Court ruled in the case of Chandris, Inc., v. |
| Marine Act of 1920, commonly referred to as the | | | | Latsis that a worker must spend more than thirty |
| Jones Act, seamen finally had safety and security for | | | | percent of his or her time in the service of a vessel |
| their rights. Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington | | | | on navigable waters. |
| proposed the law as a means of maintaining a viable | | | | Although the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 has helped |
| working force for the seas, bolstering the growth of | | | | many seamen work in an environment of improved |
| both foreign and domestic marine commerce. | | | | safety, criticisms do exist. The restrictions on shipping |
| The Jones Act is specifically a cabotage law, | | | | and working conditions cause the price of moving |
| governing the transport of goods and passengers | | | | goods and passengers between ports to skyrocket. |
| between two points within the same country. The | | | | Critics of the act label it as protectionism, an |
| law requires that seventy five percent of | | | | economic policy restraining free trade. Other negative |
| crewmembers must be United States citizens. Repair | | | | components of the Jones Act include damage to the |
| work on the vessels is also controlled by the Jones | | | | shipbuilding industry. The United States is unable to |
| Act. No more than ten percent of the hull and | | | | compete in the international shipping market as |
| superstructure of the ships can be fixed by foreign | | | | foreign crews are willing to work for a fraction of |
| repair. This aids in preventing American ships from | | | | the wages of American crews. |
| refurbishing their structure at overseas shipyards with | | | | Occasionally the Jones Act is waived for extenuating |
| foreign built steel. | | | | circumstances. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the |
| In terms of seaman's rights, the Jones Act protects | | | | Jones Act was temporarily waived for foreign |
| sailors by allowing them to claim damages from their | | | | vessels carrying oil and natural gas for a two week |
| employers for negligence on the part of the ship | | | | period in 2005. Declining oil production encouraged a |
| owner, captain, or crew. Unseaworthiness of ships is | | | | waiver for the Chinese ship Tai An Kou to pull an oil |
| also a legal cause for litigation according to the Jones | | | | rig to Alaska. |