A March 17, 2026, Jones Act waiver has stirred conversation across the U.S. maritime industry, and with it, some understandable confusion.
For maritime employers, the first point is important: the waiver concerns coastwise trade rules. It does not suspend the Jones Act personal injury remedy for seamen. It does not change the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. It does not decide whether an injured worker is covered by the Longshore Act, the Jones Act, State Act workers’ compensation, Maritime Employers Liability, or another remedy.
The waiver relates to the movement of certain covered cargo between U.S. points by water. That distinction is important. A waiver may affect vessel activity, cargo flow, terminal operations, contractor coordination, documentation, and safety planning. It should not be treated as a shortcut around workers’ compensation, maritime liability, claims reporting, or operational risk management.
Why The Jones Act Name Can Create Confusion
The phrase “Jones Act” is often used in two different ways.
For domestic shipping purposes, the Jones Act is commonly used to describe the coastwise trade requirement at 46 U.S.C. § 55102. MARAD explains that the Jones Act generally requires merchandise transported between U.S. points by water to move on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and coastwise endorsed.
For injury and claim purposes, the Jones Act refers to the federal remedy available to a seaman injured in the course of employment. That personal injury remedy is codified separately at 46 U.S.C. § 30104.
The March 17, 2026, waiver concerns the first issue: coastwise transportation. It does not change the seaman injury remedy. For a deeper discussion of this coverage boundary, see Longshore Insider’s What’s the Difference Between the Jones Act and the Longshore Act? and The Coverage Divide: Jones Act vs Longshore Act.
What The Waiver Does
Under 46 U.S.C. § 501, navigation and vessel-inspection laws may be waived when the statutory requirements for a national defense waiver are met. MARAD’s Domestic Shipping page identifies the Jones Act as 46 U.S.C. § 55102 and describes the waiver framework under 46 U.S.C. § 501.
CBP’s updated guidance states that DHS issued a limited waiver of 46 U.S.C. § 55102 on March 17, 2026. The original waiver covered a 60-day period scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, May 17, 2026.
At the time this article was prepared, CBP guidance stated that DHS had approved a 90-day extension beginning May 18, 2026, and that covered products must be loaded onboard the relevant vessel before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, August 16, 2026, to comply with the extended waiver.
In practical terms, the waiver may allow certain covered products to move on foreign-flag vessels between U.S. ports, but only within the terms of the waiver. CBP guidance also directs members of the trade community intending to conduct covered transportation under the waiver to notify CBP and provide information such as vessel name, IMO number and flag, commodity and HTS code, carrier, ports and dates of departure and arrival, and a PDF copy of CBP Form 1302.
The waiver does not create a general exemption from maritime regulation, port requirements, customs documentation, safety responsibilities, insurance obligations, or claim-handling duties.
Why The Waiver Matters for Maritime Employers
This article does not take a policy position on the waiver. For maritime employers, the practical issue is narrower: whether the waiver changes the work being performed at the dock, terminal, yard, vessel, warehouse, or worksite.
A terminal may see different vessel calls. A stevedore may handle cargo under a different operating tempo. A contractor may work around a vessel or cargo movement that is outside the facility’s normal pattern. A shipyard or marine service provider may interact with foreign-flag vessels in a different context. A broker or risk manager may be asked whether the waiver changes coverage requirements.
Those are operational questions. They should be reviewed through the same disciplined lens employers use for any change in maritime work: who is doing the work, where the work is taking place, what cargo and equipment are involved, what contracts apply, what documentation is required, and what safety controls are needed.
Do Not Confuse a Coastwise Waiver with Injury Coverage
The waiver does not answer worker-status questions.
If an employee is injured while working on or around a vessel involved in a waiver movement, the same basic coverage questions still apply. Was the worker a seaman? Was the worker a land-based maritime employee? Where did the incident occur? What work was being performed? Was the work connected to loading, unloading, shipbuilding, ship repair, terminal operations, vessel service, or another maritime activity? Was the worker employed by the vessel owner, a stevedore, a contractor, a terminal operator, or another employer?
Those facts are important and could matter under the Longshore Act, Jones Act, State Act workers’ compensation, Maritime Employers Liability, or other coverage arrangements. The fact that a vessel is operating under a Jones Act waiver does not determine the injury remedy by itself.
Longshore Insider has covered this uncertainty in several practical contexts, including The Coverage Divide: Jones Act vs Longshore Act, Jones Act or Longshore Act… or Both?, and The Longshore Act: Familiar Terms, Different Meanings. These resources are useful because the waiver may explain why the vessel or cargo is present, but it does not settle the legal status of the worker.
Documentation May Become More Important
CBP’s guidance places specific reporting and documentation requirements on transportation conducted under the waiver. Even when a maritime employer is not the vessel operator or cargo owner, the employer may still need to understand whether a movement is being handled under the waiver and how that affects the operation.
That has direct implications for scheduling, cargo staging, berth planning, contractor coordination, customs communication, and incident documentation.
A practical question for operators is whether supervisors and managers know when a vessel or cargo movement is outside the normal operating pattern. If they do not, work may be planned as routine when it is not.
Review Contracts, Contractors, And Insurance Requirements
A temporary waiver can create the impression that normal rules are relaxed across the board. They are not.
Maritime employers should continue reviewing contracts, subcontractor requirements, certificates of insurance, indemnity provisions, vessel access rules, and job scopes. This is especially important if the waiver brings new vessels, cargoes, contractors, or service providers into the operation.
The review should focus on the actual work being performed. Cargo handling, vessel service, terminal work, equipment maintenance, line handling, repair work, and contractor activity can raise different coverage and liability issues. The waiver may explain why the cargo or vessel is there. It does not eliminate the need to match insurance and risk controls to the work.
For related background, Longshore Insider’s When Are Maritime Injuries Covered? USL&H Explained reviews common maritime roles and Longshore coverage considerations, while What Is the Difference Between State Act and the Longshore Act? explains why State Act and Longshore Act exposures should not be treated as interchangeable.
Treat Operational Change as a Safety Issue
Changes in vessel activity can change the risk profile of a maritime workplace.
Additional vessel calls, unfamiliar crews, compressed timelines, new cargo flows, different staging areas, or changes in truck and equipment movement can affect safety. The risk may not come from the waiver itself. It may come from the operational adjustments made in response to it.
The question is not whether these controls are new. They are not. The question is whether the waiver creates a change from the employer’s normal operating pattern. That is where familiar controls can be missed.
Before work begins, employers should consider whether the waiver-related movement affects:
- vessel access and gangway control
- cargo staging and segregation
- crane, forklift, yard tractor, and truck traffic
- line handling and mooring operations
- communication between vessel crew, terminal personnel, contractors, and supervisors
- dropped-object and suspended-load controls
- hot work, confined space, maintenance, or repair activities
- emergency response expectations
- housekeeping in high-traffic areas
This is where safety leadership moves from policy to practice. A change in cargo movement should trigger a review of how the work will actually be performed on the dock, in the yard, or aboard the vessel.
Keep Claim Reporting and Incident Documentation Tight
If an incident occurs during work connected to a waiver movement, employers should avoid waiting until every jurisdictional issue is resolved before documenting and reporting the incident.
The initial facts may become important later. Employers should document where the worker was located, what work was being performed, what vessel and cargo were involved, who supervised the work, which contractors were present, whether the worker boarded a vessel, and whether the work occurred on a pier, terminal, yard, warehouse, dock, vessel, or other location.
Prompt reporting and detailed documentation help preserve the facts needed to evaluate coverage, claim handling, and potential third-party issues. AEU’s Report a Claim page also reminds employers that Longshore Act claims should be sent immediately to help prevent penalties for late reporting.
What The Waiver Does Not Mean
A limited coastwise waiver should not be read more broadly than its terms.
- It does not mean every foreign-flag vessel can move every cargo between U.S. ports.
- It does not mean domestic maritime laws have been broadly suspended.
- It does not change the Jones Act personal injury remedy for seamen.
- It does not change the Longshore Act’s situs and status analysis.
- It does not eliminate State Act workers’ compensation, Maritime Employers Liability, marine general liability, contractual, or safety responsibilities.
- It does not remove the need for timely claim reporting or careful incident documentation.
It is a limited waiver for covered transportation under specific terms. The legal, insurance, safety, and claims issues surrounding the work remain.
Practical Takeaway
The March 17, 2026, Jones Act waiver may affect how certain covered commodities move between U.S. ports. For maritime employers, the most important response is not to assume that the waiver answers more questions than it does.
Operators should confirm what cargo is involved, what vessel is involved, who is performing the work, what documentation is required, what contracts and insurance requirements apply, and whether the work creates new safety or claims considerations.
The waiver may change the movement of cargo. It does not change the need for sound maritime operations, careful documentation, proper coverage review, and strong safety planning.
