U.S. ship repairers: busy, but steamed.(SHIP REPAIR) From: Marine Log | Date: July 1, 2007| Author: | COPYRIGHT 2007 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

American ship repair facilities are "as busy as it gets," with many having work backlogs extending 14 weeks out, according to one industry insider. Still, many ship repair leaders are extremely hot under the collar.

What has them ticked is the way in which the Coast Guard has been interpreting the second proviso of the Jones Act.

That second proviso stipulates that "no vessel which has acquired the lawful right to engage in the coastwise trade, by virtue of having been built in or documented under the laws of the United States, and which has later been rebuilt shall have ...