The U.S. Homeland Security Department on Wednesday said it has extended through Sept. 22 a temporary waiver of a law that limits the availability of shipping vessels, in a move to help Hurricanes Harvey and Irma responders get access to fuel, Reuters reported.
The Jones Act, a nearly 100-yr-old law, mandates the use of US-flagged vessels to transport merchandise between US coasts. Last week, the department had waived the law for a week. It was the first waiver of the law since December 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; editing by Grant McCool