Cabotage
Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two points within the same country — for example a foreign ship carrying cargo from one domestic port to another. Many countries restrict or reserve cabotage to their own national carriers, ships or airlines through cabotage laws, to protect domestic operators, jobs, and strategic control of internal transport.
The most famous example is the US Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between US ports to travel on US-built, US-flagged, US-crewed vessels; many other nations have similar maritime, air and road cabotage rules. These restrictions shape trade and logistics: they can raise the cost of domestic transport, influence routing and transhipment decisions (sometimes making it cheaper to route via a foreign hub), and affect how international carriers structure services. Cabotage rules apply across modes — maritime, aviation and road (e.g. limits on foreign trucks doing internal hauls within a country or bloc). Understanding cabotage is important for planning domestic and cross-border movements, as it can determine which carriers may legally perform a given leg and at what cost.
Cabotage rules quietly decide who may legally move cargo within a country — and by reserving domestic legs to national carriers, they can sharply raise costs and reshape routings, sometimes making a detour via a foreign hub cheaper. From the Jones Act to EU trucking limits, understanding cabotage is essential to planning domestic and cross-border moves legally and economically.
What is the Jones Act?
A US cabotage law requiring goods shipped between US ports to travel on US-built, US-flagged and US-crewed vessels.
Does cabotage apply only to shipping?
No — cabotage rules apply across maritime, aviation and road transport, restricting foreign carriers from performing domestic legs.