Archaic Protectionism Is Set to Sink Alaska Cruises

Colin GrabowAnyone considering a  cruise to Alaska this summer should probably make alternate plans. Even as the global cruise industry has gradually begun torestart operations after a  lost year due to the pandemic, the large ships typically found in Skagway, Ketchikan, and other Alaskan towns during the summer months will likely be absent this year following Canada’sdecision last week to ban cruise ships from its ports through February 2022, citing ongoing COVID concerns. That’s a blow not only to the economy of Alaska, but alsoSeattle where many of these cruises depart from.But that raises an obvious question: why would the closure of Canadian ports to cruise ships prevent them from sailing between Seattle and Alaska? The answer lies in an archaic piece of maritime protectionism called the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). Passed in 1886, the law —a close cousin of the better‐​knownJones Act—restricts the domestic waterborne transportation of passengers to vessels that are U.S.-registered, U.S.-built, and mostly U.S.-crewed and owned.Incredibly, such heavy ‐​handed protectionism is for an industry that—in terms of large, oceangoing cruise ships—is almost nonexistent. There is but a single large cruise ship, thePride of America, allowed to operate under the PVSA —and it’s not even U.S.-built. Constructed in Germany, the vessel was given a special exemption to sail between U.S. ports (it currently operates in Hawaii) thanks to a substantial...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs