Maritime Cabotage Task Force

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The Jones Act and other U.S. maritime cabotage laws require that cargo and passengers moving between two points in the United States be carried on vessels that are U.S.-owned, U.S.-built and U.S.-crewed. Other statutes reserve dredging, towing and salvage in U.S.waters to vessels that meet these requirements. The MCTF is the most broad-based coalition the U.S. maritime industry has ever assembled to promote the cabotage laws. Its 350-plus members span the United States and its territories and represent vessel owners and operators, shipboard and shoreside labor groups, shipbuilders and repair yards, marine equipment manufacturers and vendors, trade associations, dredging and marine construction contractors, pro-defense groups and companies in other modes of domestic transportation. These diverse but allied interests share a common goal: to promote the long-standing U.S. maritime cabotage laws. Upon a foundation of U.S. ownership, construction and crews, the United States has built an unsubsidized domestic fleet that is the world leader in efficiency, innovation and safety.