Holland America Line was one of the companies to return to Alaska under the waiver in 2021 (Holland America)

Published September 24, 2021 3:56 PM by


The maritime executive

After Senator Lisa Murkowski created an exemption from U.S. cabotage regulations for large cruise lines heading to Alaska in 2021, she is now trying to extend the exemption for large cruise lines heading to her state. Two weeks after announcing her intentions never to control tourism in Alaska from Canada again, the Senator introduced a new law, the Cruising for Alaska Workforce Act, to provide a permanent exemption from the Passenger Vessel Services Act for large cruise lines traveling between the US state and Alaska.

“While the PVSA is still doing its job in Lower 48, it inadvertently turned many Alaskan companies over to the Canadian government when Canada closed its borders, including ports. The impossibility of cruises to Alaska has nearly wiped out our economies in the southeast – communities like Skagway, for example, saw business revenues fall 80 percent, ”Senator Murkowski said. “My new bill guarantees that PVSA will not intrude into the Alaskan tourism industry while also ensuring that overseas-built ships do not compete with US-built ships. This legislation is good news for any Alaskan who depends on tourism for a living. ”

The Senator’s spring effort received widespread support, including the US and small cruise industry, who recognized the importance of tourism to Alaska’s economy. Before the pandemic, well over a million cruise ship passengers visited Alaska and the market saw a resurgence as many of the major cruise lines put their newest and largest ships in the Alaska market.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 required overseas registered ships carrying US citizens to visit a foreign port when transporting Americans between US ports. Prior to 2020, the major cruise lines complied with cabotage restrictions by either departing from Vancouver, Canada, or visiting Canadian ports such as Vancouver and Victoria during their north and south voyages to Alaska.

In 2020 and again in 2021, Canada closed its ports to all cruise lines, but the 2021 Alaska cruise season was saved with the temporary waiver of the obligation to visit a foreign port. When the waiver was announced, many Canadian companies and ports on the west coast feared the United States could make it permanent and called on the Canadian federal government to take action to prevent the loss of the cruise industry.

The proposed law is designed to stave off opposition from powerful lobbies in the United States. First, the bill provides that the exemption will only apply to cruise lines carrying 1,000 or more passengers. The U.S. small ship cruise industry supported the temporary exemption but is unlikely to support the extension, which will create additional competition once Canadian ports reopen.

In anticipation of opposition from the US shipbuilding industry, the Senator stressed that “this waiver will end as soon as there is a US-built ship with more than 1,000 passengers.” The bill contains a provision that would terminate the waiver within 270 days if “a US liner qualified for coastal traffic is directly offering or promoting passenger services between one port in the state of Alaska and another port in the United States or via a foreign port. ”However, the exemption could be restored if the US ship suspends voyages to Alaska.