I had thought about commenting on the economics of the industry again, but suffice it to say there’s another not-so-great year in the offing — so-so trade numbers, bad fuel prices,and a jaundiced bunch of global economies leading the way.
On the front I follow these days — intelligent transportation technologies — there’s a much more interesting and aggressive market overseas than here at home. That’s the penalty we pay for lots of infrastructure and vested interests. As port congestion worsens and highway funding ebbs with the tides of restricted state and federal budgets, however, technology solutions become more interesting even in domestic ports.
The unexpected fun is in an area in which I haven’t participated in any conversations or debates in a long time. But when Fox News, Sarah Palin, the Government Accountability Office and even the Obama administration start beating on (or ignoring, as in the latter case) one of the great Founding Myths of the maritime industry — I speak, of course, of the Jones Act — well, you have to take advantage of it. Supporters of this heinous, job-destroying monument to inefficiency and delusion have no doubt been bewildered by events of 2011 and fearful of those to come this year. That’s exactly what they should be. An impending GAO study, requested by Puerto Rico, can only be bad news, just like the Maritime Administration’s 2011 study. And now Hawaii, American Samoa and other victims of this ruinous early-20th century law — touted as beneficiaries by its defenders, of course, have finally found the gumption to join the fray. Will this be the year the Jones Act finally dies a well-deserved death? Probably not, but it could be the beginning of something approximating a rational debate. Stay tuned through November.