The Trump administration has suspended a law requiring US vessels to be used for coastwise travel in order to ease distribution of fuel supplies amid an intensely active hurricane season.
Acting secretary Elaine Duke of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday approved a waiver of the federal Jones Act “in recognition of the severity of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” the department said.
“This waiver will ensure that over the next week, all options are available to distribute fuel to states and territories impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, both historic storms,” according to a statement from the department.
The Jones Act limits vessel movements between US ports to US-built, flagged and staffed ships. Waiving it would enable foreign-flagged vessels to move fuel from ports such as New York to Florida, adding to transport options.
The waiver will be in effect for a week and is tailored for the transport of refined fuels, such as petrol, in areas affected by the hurricane, the department said.
“This is a precautionary measure to ensure we have enough fuel to support lifesaving efforts, respond to the storm, and restore critical services and critical infrastructure operations in the wake of this potentially devastating storm,” Ms Duke said.
“Hurricane Harvey significantly disrupted the distribution of fuel across the Southeastern states, and those states will soon experience one of the largest mass evacuations in American history while at the same time we’ll see historic movements through those states of restoration and response crews, followed by goods and commodities back into the devastated areas.”
The last Jones Act waiver was issued in December 2012 after superstorm Sandy paralysed the US east coast.
After hammering Caribbean communities, Hurricane Irma is expected to hit Florida this weekend.
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