What Does the Jones Act Do? Shipping Rules, Seaman Rights, and Waivers

The Jones Act does two very different jobs inside one 1920 statute. It reserves domestic shipping between U.S. ports for vessels that are built, owned, flagged, and crewed by Americans, and it gives injured merchant sailors the right to sue their employers for negligence. Congress passed the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 after World War I exposed how thin the country’s shipping capacity had become, with the aim of keeping a merchant fleet strong enough to serve both commerce and national defense.

The Shipping Rules

The commercial half of the Jones Act is a set of cabotage provisions: rules that keep foreign vessels out of trade between two U.S. ports. Any vessel carrying merchandise from one domestic point to another must be wholly owned by U.S. citizens and hold a coastwise endorsement.¹ The endorsement itself requires that the vessel was built in the United States.² The vessel must also fly the U.S. flag, which places it under federal safety inspection.

Ownership is defined narrowly. A corporation operating in the coastwise trade must have at least 75 percent of its stock in the hands of U.S. citizens, free of any trust or arrangement that would put control with non-citizens, and at least 75 percent of its voting power held by citizens.³

Crewing rules go further. Only U.S. citizens can serve as a vessel’s master, chief engineer, radio officer, or watch officer. Unlicensed crew members must be either citizens or lawful permanent residents, and no more than 25 percent of the unlicensed crew can be permanent residents rather than citizens.⁴

Put together, the four requirements — American-built, American-owned, American-flagged, American-crewed — close the domestic shipping market to foreign competition and keep steady demand flowing to U.S. shipyards and maritime workers.

Penalties for Moving Goods on a Non-Qualifying Ship

Violating the cabotage rules is expensive. The federal government can seize and forfeit the merchandise, or it can require the shipper (or anyone who caused the illegal transport) to pay whichever is greater: the value of the merchandise or the actual cost of the transportation.¹ U.S. Customs and Border Protection handles enforcement.

When the Rules Can Be Waived

The shipping restrictions bend for national defense. The Secretary of Defense can request a waiver when the coastwise rules are having an immediate negative effect on military operations, and the President can authorize waivers when qualified U.S.-flagged vessels are not available to meet defense needs.⁵

Waivers are short. Each one runs no more than 10 days, extendable by another 10, with the total for any single set of events capped at 45 days. Before a waiver takes effect, the Maritime Administrator must confirm that no qualified U.S.-flagged vessels are available, and every request is published publicly.⁵

How the Rules Reach Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Territories

The coastwise laws apply to the whole United States, including its island territories and possessions, with limited exceptions for American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.⁶ Cargo moving between the mainland and Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, or Guam has to ride on a Jones Act vessel — built, owned, flagged, and crewed to the standards above.

Because these places rely heavily on ocean freight for everyday goods, the requirement to use only qualifying vessels can push shipping costs above what foreign-flagged carriers might charge. The economic effect is a recurring subject of congressional debate, and the law remains in place as of 2026.

The Right to Sue: Who Counts as a Seaman

The injury side of the Jones Act applies only to workers who qualify as “seamen” under federal law. Setting foot on a boat is not enough. The U.S. Supreme Court laid down a two-part test: the worker’s duties must contribute to the function of a vessel or help accomplish its mission, and the worker’s connection to a vessel in navigation must be substantial in both duration and nature.⁷ Deckhands, engineers, tugboat operators, and cooks who live and work aboard a ship typically qualify.

Courts use a rough guideline for the duration piece: a worker who spends less than about 30 percent of working time in the service of a vessel in navigation generally will not qualify.⁷ The analysis also considers whether the worker faces the perils of the sea — rough water, isolation, life on a moving vessel. Boundary point worth flagging: waterfront workers who are not part of a vessel’s crew — longshore workers, ship repairers, shipbuilders, harbor construction workers — are covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act instead, not the Jones Act.⁸

What a Seaman Can Sue For

A qualified seaman injured on the job can sue the employer for negligence. If a seaman dies from a work-related injury, the personal representative can bring the same claim.⁹ This is different from workers’ compensation, which pays out regardless of fault. A Jones Act claim requires proving the employer was negligent in some way.

The proof required is unusually light. Courts describe the Jones Act standard as “featherweight”: the employer’s negligence only has to have played some part, however slight, in causing the injury.¹⁰ That threshold is far below what most personal injury plaintiffs face on land.

Negligence can look like many things: poorly maintained equipment, inadequate safety training, understaffing that leaves the crew fatigued, or a known hazard that goes unaddressed. Co-worker carelessness counts too, since the employer is on the hook for the crew’s conduct.

Recoverable damages typically include:

Past and future medical expenses, from emergency care through long-term rehabilitation
Lost wages during recovery, and lost future earning capacity if the injury is permanent
Pain and suffering, covering physical pain and the emotional toll of the injury

Jones Act cases run on pure comparative fault. If a jury finds the seaman partly to blame, it assigns a percentage and reduces the damages by that share.¹¹ Being mostly at fault does not bar recovery; a seaman found 90 percent at fault still recovers 10 percent of the damages. One exception: comparative fault does not reduce damages when the employer violated Coast Guard safety regulations.

In a death case, the personal representative can file the civil action against the employer with the right to a jury trial.⁹ Damages typically cover the lost financial support the seaman would have provided, funeral expenses, and the survivors’ loss of companionship.

Two Other Protections That Travel With a Jones Act Injury

A Jones Act negligence claim rarely stands alone. General maritime law adds two more claims that most injured seamen bring at the same time.

Unseaworthiness

Vessel owners owe an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy ship. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that this duty is not limited by negligence concepts — the owner is liable regardless of whether it knew about the dangerous condition or could have prevented it.¹² To win, the seaman shows that an unsafe condition existed and was a substantial cause of the injury. Defective equipment, a slippery deck without proper anti-slip material, broken safety gear, malfunctioning machinery, or an inadequately trained crew can all support an unseaworthiness claim. Because the standards of proof differ, injured seamen often bring both claims in a single lawsuit.

Maintenance and Cure

Every seaman injured or made ill while in the service of a vessel is entitled to maintenance and cure from the employer, no matter who was at fault. Maintenance covers basic daily living expenses — food, housing, utilities — while the seaman recovers on land. Cure covers all reasonable medical costs tied to the injury or illness. These payments continue until the seaman reaches maximum medical improvement, meaning the point where further treatment is unlikely to produce significant functional improvement. Reaching that point does not mean full recovery; it means the condition has stabilized.

Employers sometimes offer a low fixed daily rate, but the law entitles the seaman to an amount based on actual living expenses. If monthly housing, food, and utility costs come to $3,000, the daily maintenance rate would be $100. An employer who willfully or unreasonably refuses to pay maintenance and cure can be held liable for the seaman’s attorney’s fees as additional damages.¹³

What Counts as a Vessel

Federal law defines a vessel broadly, taking in every type of watercraft or other artificial device used, or capable of being used, for transportation on water.¹⁴ Traditional ships, tugboats, barges, and floating drilling rigs all fit. The structure does not have to be moving at the time of the injury. What matters is whether it is “in navigation” — in a state of readiness to move, even if moored or anchored. Structures permanently pulled from service or converted into fixed platforms generally fall outside the definition, which in turn shifts injured workers out of maritime law and into land-based protections.

Filing Deadline and Where to Sue

A Jones Act personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within three years of the date of injury. This federal deadline covers all maritime tort claims.¹⁵ Miss it and the right to sue is gone.

The seaman chooses the court. Jones Act claims can be filed in either federal district court or state court, and an employer sued in state court cannot remove the case to federal court.¹⁶ Most maritime attorneys handle these cases on contingency, taking a percentage of any recovery rather than charging upfront. Contingency rates in Jones Act cases typically fall between 25 and 40 percent of the total award or settlement.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 55102 – Transportation of Merchandise
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 12112 – Coastwise Endorsement
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 50501 – Entities Deemed Citizens of the United States
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 8103 – Citizenship and Navy Reserve Requirements
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 501 – Waiver of Navigation and Vessel-Inspection Laws
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 55101 – Application of Coastwise Laws
7
Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995)
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act Frequently Asked Questions
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 30104 – Personal Injury to or Death of Seamen
10
Ninth Circuit District and Bankruptcy Courts. 7.4 Jones Act Negligence Claim – Causation Defined
11
Ninth Circuit District and Bankruptcy Courts. 7.9 Jones Act Negligence or Unseaworthiness – Plaintiff’s Negligence – Reduction of Damages
12
FindLaw. Mitchell v. Trawler Racer, Inc., 362 U.S. 539 (1960)
13
Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Vaughan v. Atkinson, 369 U.S. 527 (1962)
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 1 USC 3 – Vessel as Including All Means of Water Transportation
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 30106 – Time Limit on Bringing Maritime Action for Personal Injury or Death
16
Legal Information Institute. Jones Act