The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (sometimes abbreviated to PVSA, Passenger Services Act, or PSA) is a
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
piece of
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to
cabotage
Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well.
Cabotage rights ar ...
. Essentially, it says:
As a result, all vessels that have engaged in the coastwise trade have been required to be coastwise-qualified (i.e., U.S.-built, owned, and documented). Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (46
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
§ 55103), non-coastwise-qualified vessels cannot transport passengers directly between U.S. ports. Generally, a passenger is any person carried on a vessel who is not directly and substantially connected with the operation of such vessel, its navigation, ownership, or business. The precise definition of what constitutes a U.S. port ("coastwise point") includes artificial islands and similar structures, as well as to mobile oil drilling rigs, drilling platforms, and other devices attached to the seabed of the Outer Continental Shelf for the purpose of resource exploration operations, and the anchored warehouse vessels that supply drilling platforms.
The handful of U.S.-flagged cruise ships in operation are registered in the U.S. to permit cruises between the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
, or from the continental U.S. to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
The Passenger Vessel Services Act, however,
* does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from and returning to the same U.S. port, provided the ship visits any foreign port;
* does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from a U.S. port, visiting a ''distant'' foreign port, and then continuing to a second U.S. port. However, in order to embark in a U.S. port and disembark in a second U.S. port, the vessel must visit a distant foreign port outside of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
(
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
,
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, e ...
, the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, and all of the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
except
Aruba
Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
,
Bonaire
Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...
, and
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, count as part of North America);
In accordance with this law,
cruise line
A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...
s that operate foreign-flagged vessels are fined $798 for each passenger who boarded such a vessel in one U.S. port and left the vessel at another port. The cruise lines typically pass this cost onto passengers who "jump ship"; exemptions are available in the case of family emergencies etc.
Exceptions
Some exceptions have been made to the requirement of the Passenger Services Act. For example,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
vessels may transport passengers between
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
and
Alexandria Bay, New York
Alexandria Bay is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, within the town of Alexandria. It is located in the Thousand Islands region of northern New York. The population of the village was 1,078 at the 2010 United States Census. I ...
until such time as a U.S. carrier enters the market (46 USC § 55121(a)), and between ports in southeastern
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
(46 USC § 55121(b)).
As of October 30, 2003, foreign vessels are also allowed to transport passengers (but not cargo) between the U.S. mainland and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
(46 USC § 55104). However, this exemption will disappear if U.S.-flagged ships resume passenger operations of this type.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Canada prohibited all cruise ship traffic, which had the effect of blocking all cruise ships to Alaska (which, because of the PVSA, had to originate or stop in Vancouver). In response, President Biden signed the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act, which temporarily waived the foreign port requirement, allowing cruise ships to sail straight from Seattle to Alaska.
Waivers from the PVSA can be requested in case of national-defense interest.
Inter-island transportation in Hawaii
The law has had an interesting consequence with regard to the cruise-ship industry within the state of Hawaii. Foreign-flagged cruise ships may carry passengers between ports in the Hawaiian Islands as long as no passenger permanently leaves the vessel at ports other than the origination port and the vessel makes at least one call at a foreign port.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...
created a subsidiary, NCL America, and introduced three new U.S.-flagged vessels: ''
Pride of Aloha
''Norwegian Sky'' is a ''Sun''-class cruise ship owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She was originally ordered by Costa Cruises as ''Costa Olympia'' from the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Germany, but she was completed in 1999 by the Lloyd ...
'' in 2004, ''
Pride of America
MS ''Pride of America'' is a cruise ship operated by NCL America, a division of Norwegian Cruise Lines, to sail itineraries in the Hawaiian Islands. Construction of the ship began in 2000 in the United States as part of a plan for a US-built a ...
'' in 2005, and ''
Pride of Hawaii
''Norwegian Jade'' is a cruise ship for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), originally built as ''Pride of Hawaii'' for their NCL America division. She was christened in a ceremony at the San Pedro Pier in Los Angeles, California on 22 May 2006. The ve ...
'' in 2006. Previously, with its foreign-flagged vessels, NCL needed to include a four-day detour to
Tabuaeran
Tabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island, is an atoll that is part of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean and part of Kiribati. The land area is , and the population in 2015 was 2,315. The maximum elevation is about 3 m (10 f ...
(Fanning Atoll) in the
Line Islands
The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, ''Aono Raina'') are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...
(
) on its Hawaiian itineraries.
Reportedly due to financial losses, in 2007 NCL renamed ''Pride of Hawaii'' to ''
Norwegian Jade
''Norwegian Jade'' is a cruise ship for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), originally built as ''Pride of Hawaii'' for their NCL America division. She was christened in a ceremony at the San Pedro Pier in Los Angeles, California on 22 May 2006. The ve ...
'', and reflagged and relocated the ship to Europe. In 2008, NCL also relocated ''Pride of Aloha'' to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, reflagging it and renaming it to ''
Norwegian Sky
''Norwegian Sky'' is a ''Sun''-class cruise ship owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She was originally ordered by Costa Cruises as ''Costa Olympia'' from the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Germany, but she was completed in 1999 by the Lloyd ...
'' at the same time. Thus the ''Pride of America'' is the sole NCL ship currently in Hawaii service.
See also
*
Merchant Marine Act of 1920
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 is a United States federal statute that provides for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine. Among other purposes, the law regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports. ...
, commonly referred to as the Jones Act – similar law applied to cargo transportation
References
{{Reflist
1886 in law
1886 in American law
49th United States Congress
United States federal transportation legislation