Ship&Offshore | Ausgabe 07/2016
Innovations made in the USA
Overview | Among the 77 vessels now under construction at US shipyards, 70 were ordered by American companies. This is mainly due to the Jones Act, a federal statute that provides for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine (see box). While there has been some controversy over whether the Jones Act hampers innovation and cost efficiency, there are certainly various examples of forward-looking technologies and developments, such as the new series of Jones-Act-qualified natural gas-powered container ships built for the US transportation and logistics company TOTE. In the future, Ship&Offshore plans to increase its focus on the US market and report more on current and anticipated developments there.