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Merchant Marine Act 1920 (Jones Act)

Requires that goods shipped between U.S. ports be transported on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-crewed. Applies to domestic maritime shipping operators and provides cabotage protections for the U.S. maritime industry.

10

Rules extracted

81

Obligations decomposed

8.1x

Avg obligations per rule

🇺🇸 United States

Jurisdiction

About this regulation

Requires that goods shipped between US ports be transported on vessels that are US-built, US-owned, US-flagged, and crewed by US citizens or permanent residents. Covers cabotage restrictions, vessel documentation, coastwise trade endorsements, passenger vessel requirements, and penalties for violations.

What AuditDSS covers

Source

1

Regulation

Extracted

10

Rules

Decomposed

81

Obligations

8.1x

Decomposition ratio

Each rule is decomposed into an average of 8.1 atomic obligations — the smallest testable units that can be independently violated.

Fully extracted & scored

All 81 obligations have been decomposed, titled, risk-scored, and embedded for semantic matching.

Risk scoring

Every obligation in Jones Act is scored across independent risk dimensions:

W

Obligation Weight

How critical within the regulatory framework

L

Violation Likelihood

How often breached in practice

E

Enforcement Evidence

Regulator enforcement history and penalties

C

Cascade Dependency

How many obligations depend on this one

Regulatory details

Full title
Merchant Marine Act 1920 (Jones Act)
Regulatory body
Maritime Administration
Jurisdiction
🇺🇸 United States
Document type
statute
Effective date
June 5, 1920
Issuing authority
Maritime Administration (MARAD)
Official source
View source document ↗

Who this applies to

vessel operatorsshipping companiesmaritime carriersvessel owners

Key requirements

  • cabotage restrictions
  • vessel documentation
  • US-built vessel requirements
  • crew citizenship
  • coastwise trade endorsement
  • passenger vessel compliance
  • penalties for violations

Frequently asked questions about Jones Act

What is Jones Act?

Requires that goods shipped between US ports be transported on vessels that are US-built, US-owned, US-flagged, and crewed by US citizens or permanent residents. Covers cabotage restrictions, vessel documentation, coastwise trade endorsements, passenger vessel requirements, and penalties for violations.

Who does Jones Act apply to?

Jones Act applies to vessel operators, shipping companies, maritime carriers, vessel owners.

How many obligations does Jones Act contain?

AuditDSS has decomposed Jones Act into 81 atomic obligations from 10 rules. Each obligation is independently testable and risk-scored.

What are the key requirements of Jones Act?

The key requirements include: cabotage restrictions, vessel documentation, US-built vessel requirements, crew citizenship, coastwise trade endorsement, passenger vessel compliance, penalties for violations.

How can I assess my Jones Act compliance?

Upload your compliance policy to AuditDSS. The platform maps your document against all 81 Jones Act obligations using deterministic AI scoring — not checklists or LLM summaries. You get a risk-scored gap analysis showing exactly which obligations are covered, partially covered, or missing.

Which jurisdiction enforces Jones Act?

Jones Act is enforced in United States by Maritime Administration.

When did Jones Act come into effect?

Jones Act became effective on June 5, 1920.

What industry does Jones Act apply to?

Jones Act is primarily relevant to the Maritime & Shipping industry. AuditDSS covers 66 regulations in this industry sector.

Build a Jones Act compliance pack

Don't have a compliance policy yet? AuditDSS generates a complete compliance pack for Jones Act — alone or combined with other regulations your business needs. Every clause is mapped to specific obligations.

Policy

High-level commitments and governance framework covering Jones Act requirements.

Procedures

Step-by-step operational procedures to implement each policy commitment.

Forms & checklists

Ready-to-use forms, registers, and checklists for day-to-day compliance operations.

Multi-regulation

Combine Jones Act with other regulations into a single unified compliance pack for your business.

Already have a policy? Assess it against Jones Act

1

Upload your document

Upload your compliance policy, program manual, or operational document. AuditDSS accepts any text-based document.

2

AI maps against 81 obligations

Your document is scored against every obligation in Jones Act. Each claim is mapped to the obligation tree and evaluated for coverage.

3

Risk-scored gap report

Receive every gap ranked by risk priority with remediation guidance, enforcement evidence, and cascade impact analysis.

Related regulations in Maritime & Shipping

Assess your Jones Act compliance

Upload your document and get a risk-scored gap analysis against 81 Jones Act obligations in under 5 minutes.