Regular maritime shipments of humanitarian goods for Cuba begin from Miami

Posted on Tuesday, 07.10.12

Regular maritime shipments of humanitarian goods for Cuba begin from Miami

International Port Corp., a terminal operator, is licensed to carry
humanitarian shipments
By MIMI WHITEFIELD
mwhitefield@MiamiHerald.com

The first direct maritime shipment from Miami to Cuba in more than 50
years is scheduled to depart from a Miami River terminal Wednesday morning.

It's the start of weekly service by International Port Corp., a Miami
River terminal operator, that will ferry humanitarian items to Cuba that
are permissible under exclusions to the U.S. trade embargo.

"We are not shipping anything that is commercial or that will be
resold,'' said Leonardo Sanchez-Adega, a spokesman for International
Port Corp.

Its customers are religious groups, non-governmental organizations and
charitable groups that are legally authorized to send humanitarian
shipments to Cuba as well as individuals shipping packages to family and
friends in Cuba.

The company's delivery service is licensed by both the Office of Foreign
Assets Control and the U.S. Commerce Dept., said Sanchez-Adega.

International Port's first Cuba-bound ship, the leased Ana Cecilia, is
scheduled to leave the Miami River at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The largest
items it will be carrying on its first voyage are mattresses and it will
return to Miami empty.

The Ana Cecilia is scheduled to arrive in Havana at 7 a.m. Thursday.
There recipients will have the option of picking up their shipments at
the port or using CubaPACK, which promises to deliver to the Havana area
within a week and to locations throughout the island within two weeks.

CubaPACK is a package delivery company set up by the Cuban government to
handle humanitarian shipments.

International Port Corp. will charge $5.99 per pound, including
delivery, for its shipments.

Shipping via sea is an alternative to third-country shipments and
ferrying large packages of food, clothing, and other items on air
charters. In recent years Cuban exiles have shipped everything from
building supplies to bicycles and large televisions via air.

"It's really become a little untenable at the airport,'' said
Sanchez-Adega. "This is a way to send shipments quickly, efficiently and
legally.''

South Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen sent a letter to Adam
Szubin, director of OFAC, on June 19, asking if International Port Corp.
was in violation of any U.S. laws or regulations. Her office distributed
the letter to the media Tuesday.

In her letter, Ros-Lehtinen highlighted a provision of the Helms-Burton
law that "states no vessel that enters Cuba to engage in trade of goods
may enter a U.S. port for the purpose of loading or unloading freight
for a period of 180 days from the date the vessel departed Cuba.'' That
provision generally applies to ships that visit Cuba without U.S.
permission.

"That's OK. That's her job. We would have given her a full response but
we haven't heard from her,'' said Sanchez-Adega. "This seems to me to be
a little bit of theater. We've done this above board and we've been
working on this for quite some time.''

Alex Cruz, Ros-Lehtinen's spokesman, said Tuesday that she hadn't
received a response from OFAC.

International Port Corp. isn't the first Florida company to offer direct
delivery of humanitarian shipments to Cuba, but it will be the first in
many decades to offer regular weekly service from Miami, said Sanchez-Adega.

Crowley Maritime already has regularly scheduled service to Havana from
Port Everglades every Monday under an OFAC license to carry humanitarian
and agricultural products and it has transported everything from frozen
chicken to live cattle.

After a change in U.S. regulations during the Clinton administration
that allowed the transport of agricultural commodities, medicine,
medical devices or other products directly from the United States to
Cuba, Crowley became the first U.S. shipping line to re-enter Cuba in
nearly 40 years in December 2001. It has had regularly scheduled service
ever since.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/10/2890248/regular-maritime-shipments-of.html