A Maui ferry system “cannot be provided at cost that would be considered economical” — and the Jones Act is partly to blame, according to a report released in December by the state Department of Transportation.

The Jones Act is a federal body of law that requires ships carrying cargo between U.S. ports to be American built, American flagged and 75 percent American crewed and owned.

The DOT report examined the feasibility of interisland, intracounty and intraisland ferry systems in Hawaii and concluded that U.S. vessel construction and crew costs are “significantly larger” because of the Jones Act, adding to what it would cost to operate any sort of ferry system in the state.

Jones Act vessels cost almost three times more to build than equivalent foreign vessels, and crew costs are about five times more, according to Grassroot Institute of Hawaii research.

The DOT report concluded that, “Until a ferry vessel technology exists that facilitates the transport of passengers between two points for a substantially lower cost, or at a speed drastically quicker than the available alternatives,” none of the proposed ferry systems would be “self-sustaining.”

Waiving the Jones Act for Hawaii would be one way to help lower the costs for a ferry system serving Maui. Or the act could be updated completely to allow shippers nationwide to use foreign-built ships, just like the military does. Either way, Maui would come out ahead, as would Hawaii’s economy as a whole.

Keli’i Akina

President/CEO

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii