Destination Cuba: Ferry operators eye Florida-to-Havana service
Ferry operators are racing to be the first to tie up pier-side in Havana.
At least five shipping companies have applied for special licenses from the U.S. State Department to relaunch overnight ferry service from ports in Florida, according to shipping executives familiar with the matter. The routes were popular with American tourists and weekend revelers before sea links were closed off more than 50 years ago.
The Obama administration has eased sanctions and promises to normalize relations with Havana. As part of that move, Washington has lifted some travel restrictions that have long made Cuba practically off limits for most American visitors.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls now allows visits for a variety of purposes that once required special approval. Those include trips by Americans to see family, professional and educational travel, and travel related to humanitarian projects and sporting events.
Tourism is still prohibited, but shipping executives are betting that those restrictions will fall away soon, too. Since the Obama administration first started easing travel restrictions to Cuba several years ago, approved travelers have been able to use several Washington-sanctioned charter flights to the island. There are some private ferry charters for humanitarian cargo and other approved shipments, too, but passengers aren’t typically allowed aboard.
Alexander Panagopoulos, owner of Athens-based dry-bulk operator Arista Shipping, whose family has managed for years a string of ferry companies operating in Europe, has teamed up with American cruise-industry veteran Bruce Nierenberg, to form Miami-based United Caribbean Lines, or UCL. The company has applied to Washington and Cuban authorities for approval of a ferry-link license, Mr. Panagopoulos said in an interview.
On the U.S. side, the State Department would be responsible for issuing the license because the route is an international one. A State Department spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new company hopes to launch a three-times-a-week, overnight service from Miami to Havana. The distance is about 220 nautical miles, or roughly 253 miles. The company plans for a 6 p.m. departure from Miami, and an arrival in Havana at 7 a.m.
At least three more Florida-based shipping companies and an affiliate of a European ferry operator in Mexico have also applied to the State Department for licenses, according to shipping executives with knowledge of the matter. One of them, Florida-based CubaKat, says on its website it hopes to start service as early as December.
UCL hopes to add a second vessel eventually, enabling the company to offer a daily round-trip service. Depending on the conditions of the license, plans also include an alternative journey from Tampa, and a shorter hop from Key West, 90 nautical miles from Havana.
“The growth opportunities are tremendous,” Mr. Panagoloupos said. “There are 10 million people in Cuba and thousands of Americans that will be offered a long-forgotten travel experience at about half the cost of an air ticket.”
State Department approval could limit what type of passengers any service would be allowed to take, and Mr. Panagoloupos said UCL will be flexible, and may not be able to carry tourists right away.
“The license will specify who and what can travel,” he said. “In the beginning we expect to move passengers and cargo including personal effects, household goods and humanitarian aid. Later cars and trucks could also be allowed.”
Ferry travel to Cuba was popular during the 1940s and 1950s—before Fidel Castro took over in a coup in 1959. Dozens of weekly sailings from Florida brought in tourists and weekend visitors—often bringing their own cars—to Havana’s legendary night clubs and casinos.
Sometimes the trips were as much fun as the vacation, with ferries fitted out with bars and gambling tables. The sailings ended after President John F. Kennedy imposed travel restrictions in February 1963, shortly after the Cuban missile crisis.
“This is virgin territory with a lot of opportunities,” Mr. Panagopoulos said.
(From: The Wall Street Journal)
