b'38American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(CASUALTYcontinuedescortingships(especially(WAIVERcontinued fromsecurity, and this broad 60-dayners remain the indispensable from page 36) tankers) through the Hormuzpage 36) waiverofthisvitallawputseyes and ears supporting the barrels per day, almost half ofchokepoint from NATO and/ Again.Buttoparaphrase.bothatrisk.ThebreadthofU.S. Coast Guards homeland which originate in the MiddleortheEUandthusfarhasastheYankeesgreatYogithiswaiverisespeciallycon- security mission. Our nation East,anditabsorbsnearlybeenrebuffed. Alternatively,Berra,isthis Trumpsdjcerning, as it will unnecessarilycounts on the Jones Act mari-90% of Irans oil exports.Kaja Kallas, EU High Repre- vu all over again?impacttransportationmarketsners of the American tugboat, TheISPIreportaddedsentative for Foreign AffairsIn 2026, after the Iran warwhere domestic vessel capac- towboatandbargeindustry thatChinawasnttheonlyand Security Policy, has pro- causing a spike in fuel pricesityisnotlacking.Allowingto power the American econ-Asiancountryexposedasposed taking a different tactthatbenefittedUSoilandforeignvesselstotransportomy and help keep our com-SouthKorea,Japan,Indiato the issue by calling for angas producers, Trump is nowcargoonUSwaterwayswillmunities and waterways safe. and Singapore all are heavilyinitiative with the UN underallowingtheseproducerstointroducethepricevolatilityWaiving the Jones Act does dependent on Middle East oilwhichthepassageofO&Gutilize theJones Actwaiverof todays international marketnot serve those interests. and gas.through the Strait of Hormuzsoastocapitalizeonhighintoourdomesticcommerce, TheUS,astheworldswouldbedesignedsimilarprices and transport fuels oncreating instability in our thriv- a MeriCanM aritiMeP artnerShiPlargestoilproducer,isnotto the one utilized to enablelowercostforeignflaggeding domestic supply chain andAnd the AWO isnt alone as exposed as other nations.Ukraine to export grain.andmannedvessels.Asig- underminingAmericanjobsin its criticism of the move as Although the US imports sig- nificantdeparturefromthewhilehavingnoappreciabletheAmericanMaritimePart-nificant volumes of oil whileW hatL ieSa head administrationsstatedUSeffect on the price of gasoline. nership issued their own state-beingatopO&Gexporter.No matter what happensfirst domestic goals. The AWO statement goesmentonthe60-daywaiver: Nevertheless,gasanddieselin the next few weeks, monthsThat is the gist of the cri- on to say: At a time of height- Wearedeeplyconcerned priceshaveskyrocketed.oryears-theO&Gmarkettique of Trumps action by theenedconcernaboutterroristabout this 60-day, broad waiver DieselfuelhascrossedtheintheMiddleEastandforUS tug and barge industry andthreatsonAmericansoil,beingabusedandunneces-$5 dollar a gallon threshold,the world will have changed.AWO, who include many sup- the Jones Act also serves assarilydisplacingAmerican whichisbadnewsfortheTheexposuretooilpriceportersofthePresident,butasecuritybulwarkagainstworkers and American compa-truckingindustryandthespikes and disruption of O&Gwhoneverthelessissuedtheforeignflag vessels with for- nies. The law sets a high bar: American supply chain.flowswillundoubtedlyspurfollowing statement: eign crews transporting criti- thiswaiverexistssolelyto President Trump has declaredmore development of energyTheJones Actisfunda- cal cargo between Americasaddressanimmediatethreat a 60-day waiver to the Jones(CASUALTYcontinued onmentaltoAmericassupplyinland and coastal ports, and(WAIVERcontinued on Act to allow foreign flag ves- page 40) chainreliabilityandnationalensures that American mari- page 40)sels to carry freight (such as oil) between US ports. And whilethiswaiverhasbeenEXPERT LOGISTICS applaudedbyagricultural andothershippergroupsit hasbeenroundlycriticizedON DEMANDbyUSflagshipoperators andrelatedinterests.(See relatedarticle:AWOcriti-cizes Trump page 36). ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ON TIME. r eroutingo&gSincethefirstweekof the war there has been active workarounds to devise ways tokeeptheO&Gflowing. Forexample,SaudiArabia andtheUAEaremoving lowervolumesviapipelines to terminals outside the Strait of Hormuz, thus avoiding the chokepoint.SaudiArabias East-West pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea has the capac-ity to deliver 5 million bpd. AndthepipelinefromAbu Dhabi to Fujairah, on the Ara-bian Sea, can carry 1.5 mil-lion bpd. This is significantly less volumes than would nor-mally be routed through the Red Sea and still vulnerable to attack by Iran and poten-tiallyYemensHouthis who thus far have not been an active participant. As for the Strait of Hormuz traffic,Iranstillholdsallthe cards,althoughthatcould changeinthenearfuture. The mere threat of attack is enough to deter ship passage. And the attacks are very real. TheBritishmilitarysUK MaritimeTradeOperations (UKMTO)agencyreported on March 15 a tanker being struckneartheStraitof Hormuz.Tankers,particu-larlythosethattheIranians identifyasbeingalliedto Israel and the US, are prime targets. Overall, the UKMTO reportedthatatotalof21 reportsofincidentsinvolv-ingvesselsintheArabianCONTACT USGulf,StraitofHormuzand1000 Foust Road Brownsville, TX 78521Gulf of Oman since February+1 (956) 831-459228th, when the US and Israelwww.portofbrownsville.comlaunched their strikes on Iran.The US wants to get help'