CLIA has not taken a position on any federal legislation that amends the Passengers Services Act (PSA). The decision of whether to repeal or modify the PSA involves complex issues relating to the operation of passenger vessels in the United States coastwise trade. The PSA prohibits non-U.S.flag vessels from providing transportation for passengers in the domestic coastwise trade, i.e. between U.S. ports. That is, a passenger may not join the ship in one U.S. port and depart the ship in a different U.S. port. Since the foreign passenger vessel industry, from its inception, has been engaged in international voyages, modifications to the PSA do not impact our industry’s current operations. Therefore, the members of CLIA have taken no position on proposed reforms to the Passenger Services Act since we do not anticipate any significant changes in our members' cruise itineraries.
There is a grassroots coalition leading PSA reform efforts which seeks to open new cruise itineraries between U.S. ports. This coalition is comprised of tourism and U.S. port interests. The CLIA is not a member of this group. We understand the efforts of this coalition, but their goal is to help American cities and ports, not the cruise operators. We encourage growth in all segments of the cruise industry, but we do not believe a reformed PSA is necessary too achieve these objectives.
While a reformed PSA might add some new U.S. ports to cruise itineraries, most of our members believe that this would not be significant, especially in light of the restrictions that likely would be attached. Therefore, CLIA is not advocating any change to this law.
Technical & Regulatory
Passenger Services Act
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