On the cleanest comparison the data allow, with the same inspector, the same vessel type, and the same time window, the Jones Act tanker fleet has a meaningfully worse deficiency record than the waiver fleet. The effect isn’t marginal. The domestic fleet not only has a higher deficiency rate but also a notably higher number of deficiencies.

To be clear, this isn’t a claim that the waiver fleet is “safer” in some general sense or that Jones Act tankers are unsafe. PSC deficiency counts are imperfect proxies for risk, sample sizes among both fleets are modest, and deficiencies can range from a fire door improperly propped open with a hold-back hook (Clearocean Fuku) to missing lock-out valves on a fire-suppression system (American Energy), the two vessels already cited above as each fleet’s highest-deficiency ship.

What it does show is that TI’s specific claim that the waiver fleet’s PSC record demonstrates a unique threat to American infrastructure doesn’t hold up once both the Jones Act and waiver fleets are given equal treatment.