A centuries-old law bans fuel boats from docking in storm-swept Puerto Rico

A ship carrying much-needed diesel gasoline was reportedly unable to dock in Puerto Rico while awaiting approval from U.S. officials NBC Information.

That ferry Docks should not be allowed due to the Jones Act (officially commonly known as the Service Providers Maritime Act of 1920), which states that items shipped between U.S. ports can only be shipped by ships primarily built in the U.S. . The boats should even be piloted and owned by US residents.

Because of this, an overseas vessel bound for Puerto Rico should first stop at a port in the continental United States and change crew, NBC Information explained. Since the gasoline tanker is not supposed to be owned by the U.S., it has been sitting idle off the coast of Puerto Rico, waiting for the Biden administration to decide whether to drop the Jones Act and allow the ship to dock, studying Washington’s input.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said he had asked U.S. authorities to intervene. “I have asked the Secretary of Homeland Security to intervene privately to allow a non-public contractor ship loaded with diesel and located near Puerto Rico to dump gasoline for the benefit of our people,” Pierre Luisi tweeted.

In response to The Washington Post, White House officials said the Biden administration has no right to drop the Jones Act in Puerto Rico lightly.

Two years after the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones Act to regulate national security. Its proponents argue that U.S. shipping trade wants support from overseas and potentially hostile rivals. Free trade advocates such as the Cato Institute have repeatedly mentioned repealing it.

Maritime Partners of America — a group of unions representing the Jones Act — wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas explaining why the Jones Act should not be repealed under the current state of affairs “. “There is no indication that America’s transportation capacity is insufficient to meet demand, so there is no reason to repeal the Jones Act,” said Ku’uhaku Park, the group’s president.

DHS told NBC in a bulletin that “DHS will assess a specific individual’s request for a Jones Act exemption on a case-by-case basis and in meetings with the Maritime Administration, Department of Protection, and Vitality.”