It is not so much taxes is that any US flagged vessel has to abide by the Jones Act. That typically means much higher operating costs. Including union crews.
This is also the reason why shipping from one US port to the other is more expensive than shipping from Houston to anywhere else in the world. If you ship from Houston to Boston it has to be on a US flagged vessel in compliance to the Jones Act.
This is also the case with river cruises in the US or small cruise ships that go up the New England coast in the summer.
Which is why they are so much more expensive than a cruise ship that departs Boston and goes to Bermuda.
> It is not so much taxes is that any US flagged vessel has to abide by the Jones Act. <
Thanks for the info. I was aware of the Jones Act, but not all the details. I guess this is just another example of unintended consequences. Sadly, the government never course-corrects. Bad laws live on forever.