If one believes a report from Fairplay, there will be many more folks going to jail, as well as customers lining up to file suit (as they paid more for ocean freight because of the collusion).
US-flag container lines, not just their management, also face the strong possibility of criminal prosecution. On the civil liability front, shippers have already filed class actions against carriers in the four main Jones Act trades: Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska and Guam.
Potential civil settlements to compensate for over a half-decade of alleged collusion – plus a thinning of executive ranks due to imprisonments – could transform the Jones Act container industry.
The "Jones Act" is actually the Merchant Marine Act of 1920.
The cabotage provisions restrict the carriage of goods or passengers between United States ports to U.S. built and flagged vessels. In addition, at least 75 percent of the crewmembers must be U.S. citizens. Moreover foreign repair work of U.S.-flagged vessels' hull and superstructure is limited to 10 percent foreign-built steel weight.[1] This restriction largely prevents American shipowners from refurbishing their ships at overseas shipyards.
The Jones Act is the reason you can't board a cruise ship in Miami and get off in Long Beach.
Horizon Lines is the carrier who will be hard hit by this, and they are a public company and trade in all of the Jones Act trades. I wouldn't be recommending their stock.
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