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U.S. denies request for Puerto Rico shipping waiver

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.

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

GannonFan wrote:

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

Details, details. This is getting in the way of SK's unfounded moral indignation.

Col Hogan wrote:And...

If the ports are not open, this is nothing...

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

Vidav wrote:

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

It really should just be waived like it is for the US VI. The law no longer makes sense.

Vidav wrote:

CID1990 wrote:“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” Moore said.

Frankly, they should just waive the law so there's no red meat for the Jellies of the world. The entrance to SJ harbor would look like the entrance to Lagos Lagoon (hundreds of container ships lined up and nobody getting in) but who cares

How many of you geniuses have been in San Juan harbor? Or any Puerto Rican container port?

It really should just be waived like it is for the US VI. The law no longer makes sense.

89Hen wrote:Pretty sure I heard an official from PR yesterday saying the trouble isn't getting the supplies to PR, it's getting them to the people.

GannonFan wrote:

89Hen wrote:Pretty sure I heard an official from PR yesterday saying the trouble isn't getting the supplies to PR, it's getting them to the people.

Agreed. The non-voting representative in Washington was even quoted as saying she's never seen such cooperation from Washington in terms of support. Getting it to people where they need it on the island is the biggest hurdle.

89Hen wrote:

GannonFan wrote:
Agreed. The non-voting representative in Washington was even quoted as saying she's never seen such cooperation from Washington in terms of support. Getting it to people where they need it on the island is the biggest hurdle.

We probably shouldn't ruin Jelly's thread.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Wednesday he expected the federal government to waive the Jones Act, which would lift restrictions on ships that can provide aid to the island devastated by Hurricane Maria.

He said he has been speaking with members of Congress from both parties who have supported an emergency waiver.

“We expect them to waive it,” Rossello said in an interview with CNN. He noted there was a seven-day waiver after Hurricane Irma, which was much less devastating to the island.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration 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 damaged ports, the main impediment to shipping.

A waiver would allow Puerto Rico to get help not only from U.S. ships but from any ships that can bring aid.

“That is critical, particularly for fuel,” he said. “One of the considerations right now is the priority of getting fuel, diesel, gasoline, all across the island. Right now we have enough fuel. We’re limited by the transportation logistics, but at some point of course, getting fuel into the island is going to be critical so that we can have the major functions of telecoms, hospitals, water, to be running appropriately.”

The Jones Act requires that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by American owned-and-operated ships.

U.S. Senator John McCain asked acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke on Tuesday to grant an emergency waiver of the law. He said that Puerto Rican residents would have to pay at least twice as much for food, drinking water and other supplies without the waiver.

Skjellyfetti wrote:Maybe Congress will fix another dumbass WH mistake

Right now we have enough fuel. We’re limited by the transportation logistics

89Hen wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:Maybe Congress will fix another dumbass WH mistake

but at some point of course, getting fuel into the island is going to be critical so that we can have the major functions of telecoms, hospitals, water, to be running appropriately.”

89Hen wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:Maybe Congress will fix another dumbass WH mistake

Skjellyfetti wrote:

89Hen wrote:

You know this isn't something that's going to return to normal in a week or two, right?

The rest of the quote you chopped off:

but at some point of course, getting fuel into the island is going to be critical so that we can have the major functions of telecoms, hospitals, water, to be running appropriately.”

Considering this is an island about 1000 miles southeast of Miami I think it's pretty amazing the governments response so far I don't give trump the credit though but those of you trying to politicize this as trumps not doing enough have it all wrong

dbackjon wrote:The views quoted by most on this thread is NOT what friends who LIVE in Puerto Rico are saying and experiencing.

10-12 hour lines for fuel. 2 hour lines for food and water, and that is running out. Parts of the island unreachable.

While lifting the Jones Act may not have an impact today, it will in the near future. And needs to be removed permenantly.