Seafarers International Union members gathered outside Marathon Petroleum’s Garyville, Louisiana refinery as the Chinese-flagged asphalt tanker Jin Zhou Wan prepared to load for what the union states is at least its third coastwise voyage under the emergency Jones Act waiver. The vessel is owned by COSCO Shipping Asphalt Hainan, a subsidiary of state-owned China COSCO Shipping Corporation, which has appeared on U.S. government lists of Chinese military companies. The Trump administration invoked the waiver in March under Section 501 of the Merchant Marine Act, citing national defense concerns tied to Iran conflict disruptions and Strait of Hormuz threats, and has since extended it; the protest follows a June U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that reopened the strait and eased the supply concerns originally cited for the waiver.