Court rules Aker ships are ‘made in USA’
A federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled that certain ships built with foreign parts at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard still qualify as "built in the United States" under a nearly century-old law known as the "Jones Act."
A federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled that certain ships built with foreign parts at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard still qualify as "built in the United States" under a nearly century-old law known as the "Jones Act."
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter capped a lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard by the Philadelphia Metal Trades Council, MTD, and the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. The ships in question carry domestic freight.
The judge ruled Aug. 21 that the Coast Guard did not violate the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 when it classified 10 of Aker's Veteran Class MT-46 Product Tankers as "coastwise."
The metal trades had argued that large foreign-built modules installed in the engine rooms of the tankers disqualified the ships as U.S.-built under the Jones act. The unions also had argued that the engine modules were improperly allowed to be assembled out of the country.