Foreign-flagged tankers have carried petroleum products between U.S. ports under this year’s Jones Act waiver without appearing in the Maritime Administration’s public voyage reports, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Government. The gaps complicate efforts to measure use of the waiver as a revised approval process begins to take effect.
Bloomberg Government identified at least a dozen vessels carrying more than $40 million in petroleum products on domestic routes, including voyages from the Gulf Coast to the East and West coasts and Puerto Rico. It compared vessel reports filed with a Coast Guard ballast-water program against port-call and cargo data, then checked the voyages against Marad’s published reports. A Marad spokesperson confirmed the activity to Bloomberg Government.
The Jones Act generally requires vessels carrying cargo between U.S. points to be U.S.-built, U.S.-owned and qualified for coastwise trade. Recipients of a waiver, including vessel owners and operators, must report voyage dates, ports of call, cargo and other information to Marad within 10 days of a voyage’s completion. Marad says it publishes those reports within 48 hours of receiving them.
The adminis...