The cruise industry received a temporary pardon for cruising to Alaska this year, but one senator wants it to be permanent.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced a new bill repealing and reforming the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (PVSA).
The Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA) of 1886 requires foreign flag cruise ships to call at a foreign port when they are cruising a closed loop cruise out of the United States.
This means that cruise ships cannot depart from Seattle and only call at ports in Alaska. It has to stop outside of the country, and Canada is the only place between Seattle and Alaska for that.
Canada has banned cruise lines from entering their waters for two years due to the global health crisis, making cruises from the United States to Alaska under the PVSA legally impossible.
The rationale for both the PVSA is to protect the US Merchant Marine (the licensed (officers) and documented (trading) personnel on the ships) and to protect the US shipyards that build and repair the ships.
Senator Lee calls it “an outdated, protectionist law that harms American jobs and American tourism.”
“This obscure law benefits Canada, Mexico, and other countries that are getting increased maritime traffic at the expense of American workers in our coastal towns, cities, and ports. Reducing the demand for jobs and travel opportunities here in the US is the opposite of ‘America first.’ And when it comes to ocean liners, this “protectionist” law literally protects no one, as no cruise ship has been built inland for over half a century. The PVSA is bad business and bad law, and it is long past Congress rethinking it. “
Senator Lee tabled three bills aimed at reversing the PVSA and potentially allowing cruise lines to sail out of the United States without a foreign port stop. The “Safeguarding American Tourism Act” is primarily aimed at cruise ships and speaks specifically about them.
- Would repeal the PVSA and adjust cabotage requirements accordingly so that all ships eligible under United States law can carry passengers from US port to US port.
Protection of the American Tourism Act
- Would exempt large passenger ships (“ships with 800 or more passenger berths”) from PVSA requirements and adjust cabotage requirements accordingly so that these ships can carry passengers from US port to US port.
- This focused approach would not compromise or harm any existing industry as no cruise ship has been built in the US since 1958 (thus meeting the high bar of PVSA).
Protecting jobs in the American Ports Act
- Would remove the “US-built” requirement for passenger ships operating between US ports, thereby creating incentives for American businesses to develop journeys that reduce traffic and economic activity – and opportunities for dockers – in American coastal cities and cities increase.
Earlier this year Congress passed the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act (ATRA) and President Joe Biden signed it into law.
ATRA applies to Pacific Northwest cruises only this year and only on select cruise lines.
