U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) recently urged President Joe Biden to exercise existing authority to grant a waiver from the federal Jones Act to permit international shipping companies to ship oil and other petroleum products from mainland U.S. ports to Hawaii.
The objective is that such an action would allow for full replacement from domestic supply of some of Hawaii's oil imports from Russia that are now banned by presidential order.
"A century-old federal shipping law should not effectively prevent Hawaii from replacing the Russian oil imports we've rightly banned with available affordable alternatives," Case tweeted recently.
The Jones Act requires all shipping between U.S. ports to be provided by U.S.-built and flagged vessels, Case said in a recent press release issued on his website. He also wrote Matt Cox, President and CEO of Matson Inc.; and George W. Pasha IV, Chairman, President and CEO of the The Pasha Group.
"I asked President Biden to waive the Jones Act to get replacement oil to Hawaii throughout the ban, and I also asked Matson and Pasha, our two shippers who operate under the Jones Act and dominate our incoming shipping, to support my waiver request," Case's tweet said.
The last time a waiver order was executed was in 2017, when former President Donald Trump temporarily waived the Jones Act, Case said in the press release.