My final post. Here are a few glaring examples of what kind of foreign shipowners are out there in the world today. Admittedly it does not represent them all. But to those who believe the answer to our problems is to simply open the floodgates and allow our economy and our lives here to be entirely dependent upon a business owned by somebody in another country half-way around the world, I would ask you to consider these short stories: 

https://maritime-executive.com/article/hegh-autoliners-pleads-guilty-to-price-fixing 

http://splash247.com/shanghai-maritime-court-arrests-hit-run-boxship/

http://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/its-not-the-day-of-the-seafarer-anymore

There are countless more examples. But the picture isn't as rosy as you might believe. The Jones Act isn't perfect, nothing is. But I'd rather invest in making things right by modifying it for the benefit of US business and workers, than to simply repeal and allow any foreigner in to Hawaii's trade-lane.