Merchant Marine Act of 1920

E158685

United States federal statute maritime law

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act, is a U.S. federal law that regulates maritime commerce by requiring goods transported between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built, -owned, and -crewed vessels.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Jones Act	6
Jones Act of 1917	2
Merchant Marine Act of 1920 canonical	2
Jones Act seamen injury provisions	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1380299 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Merchant Marine Act of 1920
Context triple: [Shipping Act of 1916, relatedTo, Merchant Marine Act of 1920]

A. Merchant Marine Act of 1936
The Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is a U.S. federal law that established policies and programs to develop and maintain a strong American merchant marine for commerce and national defense.
B. Merchant Marine Act of 1970
The Merchant Marine Act of 1970 is a U.S. federal law that updated and expanded national maritime policy, including shipbuilding and fleet modernization programs, to strengthen the American merchant marine.
C. Shipping Act of 1916
The Shipping Act of 1916 was a foundational U.S. maritime law that established federal regulation of ocean shipping practices and created the United States Shipping Board to oversee fair competition and rates in international trade.
D. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937
The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937 is a U.S. federal law that, among other water infrastructure measures, authorized major reclamation and water management projects in California’s Central Valley.
E. Merchant Shipping Act
The Merchant Shipping Act is a key piece of United Kingdom legislation that regulates British merchant vessels, their registration, safety standards, and the rules under which they operate at sea.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Merchant Marine Act of 1920
Target entity description: The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act, is a U.S. federal law that regulates maritime commerce by requiring goods transported between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built, -owned, and -crewed vessels.

A. Merchant Marine Act of 1936
The Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is a U.S. federal law that established policies and programs to develop and maintain a strong American merchant marine for commerce and national defense.
B. Merchant Marine Act of 1970
The Merchant Marine Act of 1970 is a U.S. federal law that updated and expanded national maritime policy, including shipbuilding and fleet modernization programs, to strengthen the American merchant marine.
C. Shipping Act of 1916
The Shipping Act of 1916 was a foundational U.S. maritime law that established federal regulation of ocean shipping practices and created the United States Shipping Board to oversee fair competition and rates in international trade.
D. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937
The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937 is a U.S. federal law that, among other water infrastructure measures, authorized major reclamation and water management projects in California’s Central Valley.
E. Merchant Shipping Act
The Merchant Shipping Act is a key piece of United Kingdom legislation that regulates British merchant vessels, their registration, safety standards, and the rules under which they operate at sea.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ maritime law ⓘ
affects	U.S. domestic shipping costs ⓘ U.S. maritime labor market ⓘ U.S. shipbuilding industry ⓘ
appliesIn	U.S. exclusive economic zone for coastwise trade ⓘ U.S. territorial waters ⓘ
appliesTo	transportation of merchandise between U.S. ports ⓘ
codifiedIn	Title 46 of the United States Code ⓘ
containsProvision	cabotage restrictions ⓘ seamen personal injury remedy known as the Jones Act negligence claim ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
criticizedFor	increasing shipping costs to non-contiguous U.S. states and territories ⓘ limiting competition in domestic maritime transport ⓘ
dateEnacted	June 5, 1920 ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
grantsRight	right of seamen to sue employers for negligence ⓘ
hasAlias	Merchant Marine Act of 1920 self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Jones Act
hasImpactOn	U.S. energy and commodity shipping ⓘ disaster relief logistics to U.S. territories ⓘ
hasLongTitle	An Act to provide for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine ⓘ
hasSection	Merchant Marine Act of 1920 self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Jones Act seamen injury provisions
jurisdiction	United States government ⓘ surface form: United States federal government
legalArea	admiralty law ⓘ transportation law ⓘ
policyGoal	encourage domestic shipbuilding and ship repair facilities ⓘ ensure U.S. control of domestic waterborne commerce ⓘ have a merchant marine capable of serving as a naval auxiliary in time of war or national emergency ⓘ
purpose	ensure a strong U.S. maritime industry for national defense ⓘ maintain U.S. control over domestic maritime transportation ⓘ promote U.S. shipbuilding ⓘ support the U.S. merchant marine ⓘ
regulates	coastwise trade of the United States ⓘ maritime commerce in U.S. waters ⓘ
relevantTo	Alaska ⓘ Guam ⓘ Hawaii Territory ⓘ surface form: Hawaii Puerto Rico ⓘ
requires	use of U.S.-built vessels for transport between U.S. ports ⓘ use of U.S.-crewed vessels for transport between U.S. ports ⓘ use of U.S.-flag vessels for transport between U.S. ports ⓘ use of U.S.-owned vessels for transport between U.S. ports ⓘ
shortTitle	Merchant Marine Act of 1920 self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Jones Act
signedBy	Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
subjectOf	ongoing political and economic debate in the United States ⓘ
supportedFor	protecting U.S. maritime jobs ⓘ supporting national security through a domestic merchant fleet ⓘ
yearEnacted	1920 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shipping Act of 1916 → relatedTo → Merchant Marine Act of 1920 ⓘ

United States merchant marine → legalFramework → Merchant Marine Act of 1920 ⓘ

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act → relationshipTo → Merchant Marine Act of 1920 ⓘ