WASHINGTON: Cuba’s National Port Administration has signed a five-year cooperation agreement with Alabama State Port Authority to grow traffic between the Port of Mobile and Cuba. The memorandum of understanding marks the first ports agreement between the two nations signed on U.S. soil since 1959. “We are seeing increasing demand for normalized trade between the United States and Cuba, and it is our goal to foster relationships between the ports and their maritime communities to further changes in U.S. Cuban trade policy and facilitate improved ocean carriage services to the benefit of our shippers,” said James K. Lyons, CEO of Alabama State Port Authority.
Until late last year, vessels calling at Cuba were barred from entering U.S. ports within 180 days of departure from Cuba. Following easement of U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules trade between Cuba and the deepwater port of Mobile is now expected to grow. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Center ranked the Port of Mobile as the 10th -argest seaport in the U.S. in 2015.
